Second Life
by clairlz
Summary: This is a Sequel to my story Rescued. It's a lot of angst for Josef, Beth and Mick ...rated M for later chapters, and swearing throughout. It would help if you have read Rescued.
1. Chapter 1

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Josef looks over at the slender form laying on the couch in his office. He sees the blond curls sticking up above the blanket that covers her. He is trying so hard to be objective, and it just isn't working. His first instinct as her sire and her friend is to go find Mick and beat him senseless. If there was anyone else that could stay with her he might just do it, but there isn't. If she wakes up and he's not there for her, it would devastate her. She ran to Josef for a reason. Josef can't understand how Mick could hurt her this way. Sure she has changed and is different, but it is for the better.

Beth is in terrible pain. Josef is sure Mick was his typical tortured self, and now Josef is in pain with them. Oh, he would have felt bad anyway, but now it is worse because he has his pain and hers. He tinkers with the idea of just shooting Mick, but decides she might not forgive him, and he wouldn't be able to stand that.

Josef thinks back, trying to understand how they got here.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Several months ago, when Beth and Mick had come to the office to see him, she had been so excited. She wanted Josef to turn her. She had finally decided that it was time. Mick didn't seem thrilled about the idea, but he didn't object. So Josef assumed he had come to terms with the idea. Josef didn't really want to do it. Not that he thought it was a bad idea; he didn't. When Beth was staying with him during the fiasco with Lola, Josef had realized he had fallen in love with her. He just wasn't sure he was going to want her to go back to Mick when she got past the fledgling stage. He knows that fledgling vampires are very dependent and connected to their sires. He could easily manipulate the situation so that she would stay with him and not go back to Mick. In the end, Josef had agreed only because he was afraid she would go to someone else who wouldn't give her the care she deserved. He also had to admit that the idea of another vampire being that connected to her, and it not being him, made him more than a little jealous.

The more Josef watched Mick the more worried he became. Mick seemed pensive and it bothered him. If Mick had a problem with Beth being turned, now was the time to say so. Once it was done, that would be it. As they all knew, there was no turning back. Josef decided to talk to both of them separately and see what was really going on. Luckily Beth had to take off to work, and she had her own car with her because Mick had some errands to run after she went to work.

Mick smiled as Beth leaned over and gave him a kiss on her way out the door, then she stopped and smiled, walked over and gave Josef a big hug. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me. I really want you to be the one to do this for me." Josef didn't know what to say; he just smiled down at her.

They both watched her go. Josef thought that Mick was awfully melancholy. "Hey, what's the matter? You don't seem nearly as happy about this as Beth does."

Mick leaned forward and put his head in his hands and then looks up at Josef. "I never could say no to her."

Josef understood the sentiment. He had the same problem. Saying no to Beth just wasn't something either of them was any good at. "Mick you need to talk to her again, if you think you can't live with this. I mean it. Is it worth it if it tears the two of you apart?"

"Josef, I've gone over this in my head a hundred times. I've finally listened to all the things you've said to me over the years. I'm going to lose her one way or the other. If she doesn't do this, then I end up watching her grow old and die. At least if she's turned she's around for me to work things out with, or not. If she dies then she's just gone…..the reason I agreed to do this, is that no matter what happens, I don't want her to die. I know that's selfish, but I just can't imagine a world without her, if we're together or not."

Josef nodded and decides he needs to talk to Beth alone.

"Josef, I have to go. I've got things I need to get done. I'll talk to you later." And Mick left.

Josef called Beth at Buzzwire. "Beth, I was wondering when you are getting done at work?"

Beth heard the note of concern in Josef's voice. "You're not changing your mind are you?"

"I don't think so, but I really need to talk to you. Look, I'll be at the office all night. Any chance you can drop by here on your way home?"

"Sure. It will probably be a couple hours, but I'll be there." She hung up.

Josef paced around the room, trying to think of what to say to her and ensure she had looked at this really thoroughly. Beth walked into his office a couple of hours later, just as she said. Josef noticed she looked worried. "You're not changing your mind are you?"

Josef smiled at her. "Beth, I just want to make sure that you and Mick are really ready for this."

Beth made a sour face at him. "Did Mick tell you to try and talk me out of this?"

Josef looked at her questioningly. "No, but Beth, are you saying you know Mick has reservations about this?"

She waved her hand in the air dismissively. "Of course he does. I wouldn't even have to talk to him to know that. You know how he is about being a vampire. I just think that it will be fine once he gets use to it. You know, we've managed to get through a lot of things ok. This may take a little time but it will be ok."

"Beth, what if it's not? What if you lose Mick over this? Can you live without him? Do you even want to be a vampire without Mick there with you?"

"Josef, it will be ok, we'll be ok. Mick and I love each other. We'll find a way."

Josef shook his head. "I hope you're right. You know I just want you to be happy."

Beth smiled. "Then stop worrying and tell me when we can do this."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef watched as her eyes fluttered open. It has been a week of watching and waiting to make sure she didn't slip away, like Sarah had. He knew once Beth woke up the odds were good that she would do just fine, but all the same; every time she went to sleep he worried. He supposed it was the same as human parents watching a baby sleep. At least with a human baby you could lay a hand on their back and feel for warmth and breath. Not so with a fledgling, since they weren't going to breathe or have the warmth of life. Rationally, he knew she was fine, but there was nothing rational about this bond he had with Beth. If he hadn't known what to expect, he would be crazy by now.

New vampires are, at first, on sensory overload. Everything is too loud, too bright, and too stinky. Once they started to get use to it all, they wanted to touch, smell and see everything. Josef noticed that, in addition to the usual things, Beth's inquisitive nature was amped up as well. She couldn't just touch something or see something once; she had to experience all of it. This extended to Josef as well. If he got too far from her she would find him, which was fine, but she would then have to touch him all over and, on occasion, taste him by coming around from behind and kissing him and snaking her tongue over his. Every time she did that he was tempted to throw her on the nearest flat surface and take her right there. The turning had resulted in a shared connection that was very powerful and somewhere in Josef's heart he hopped it never went away entirely.

Then there was water. For some reason Josef couldn't understand, Beth loved the feel of water on her skin. He'd never seen such a desire in a vampire. She loved the shower, never mind how hard it was to get her out of the pool. One evening he had decided to take her for a walk. He had forgotten there was a small lake down through the woods. She saw it and gave a small yell of delight. She ran over and hugged him and ran away again to see the water. He was sure she thought he had put it there just for her. Before he knew what she was doing she had stripped down and was diving in. Josef sat on the bank and watched her. He was sure he had never seen anything quite so beautiful as Beth swimming in the moonlight naked. She had such a delight for life, surprising since she's dead. It was a pleasure to be around her. She had told him later, that all her life she had wanted to swim naked in a lake just like this, and that she liked the lake better than the pool because it was a more a natural temperature.

Mick spent a lot of time with them at the house until it was time for her to learn to do some of the things that Mick felt uncomfortable with. The day came when Beth had to learn to feed from humans without hurting them. Josef had done as much as he could to prepare everyone for this. Beth had spent two weeks at his house before he had turned her and part of that time he had encouraged her to spend time with Emily and the girls. Josef thought it would help Beth to remember later that the girls, freshies, weren't prey and not to hurt them. It was an important distinction the predator in her needed to learn. Learning to live in the human world without being detected was an important ability. He knew Beth would know it on a conscience level, but he wanted the predator to learn the difference. Josef thought that if she preferred feeding on males, later, he would bring in some for her, but he thought his girls were probably more in her comfort level at the moment.

The hardest part of teaching a fledgling to feed from humans was to learn to stop and not go too far. Up to this point, she had been feeding from Josef and from a glass, but fresh warm, human blood was a whole different experience. That's where learning to overcome the bloodlust really came into play. It wasn't even that she would still be hungry; it was that the sensory experience was amazing for a vampire and the human. Josef would never understand how Mick gave it up. Josef suspected that it didn't hurt that Beth had fed both him and Mick before when she was still human. Even under such dire circumstances as feeding them to save their lives, she understood what the freshies felt and wouldn't want them to feel pain.

Mick had insisted that Beth learn to protect herself using her new strength and abilities. Josef was all for that, and Mick took over the physical training aspects of her upbringing. He had given her simple things to do to learn control of her agility and strength. Then one day he started teaching her to fight. Josef thought Mick's insistence stemmed from Mick's memory of Beth being attacked and knowing how lucky she had been to get through it alive. Mick wanted to make sure she could have a fighting chance, no matter the situation. Josef realized later that Mick also was afraid he wouldn't be there any more to protect her so he was doing his best to give her the tools she would need to take care of herself if they parted ways.

Before she was turned, the three of them, had decided not to teach her to hunt in the basic sense of the word, against Josef's better judgment. When she was ready, they decided Josef would take her out and teach her to seduce her pray into giving up their blood willingly, without killing. That was as far as it would go. Josef smiled, he knew she would have no trouble in that area. Josef consoled himself, that because Mick had taught her to defend herself so well, if push came to shove and she was hungry enough the predator in her would be able to get food no matter what, but at this point there would be no killing.

Josef remembered the first few times he took her away from home. She was frightened at first, but she learned quickly if she was well fed and rested ahead of time she had fewer urges to conquer being so close to all those humans and their blood. She also saw that, even over a short time period, it became easier with practice.

Somewhere along the line, they had started taking walks around the property and talking over what she had learned and how to make things better. Josef found she was better able to focus and tell him what was going on with her if they got away from all the activity at the house. As the months progressed, they fell into a rhythm and a comfort level that was so peaceful that one day he realized he never wanted her to leave. That's when he knew she had grown to the point that she would be fine away from him and it was time for her to go home with Mick. That was two months ago

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So what's she now doing sleeping on the couch?

Several hours ago she came into his office sobbing that Mick didn't love her anymore. He was prepared for her. Two minutes before she showed up, Mick called and told him that she's coming and she was really upset. Mick followed her to Josef's office to make sure she got there all right. Josef started to ask Mick what happened, but when she came in crying he just hung up. He thought he might as well ask her. The office staff had standing orders to always let her come right in, no matter what, and he was glad that the order was still in effect. He told his staff to get out and he had all his appointments canceled. He went over and sat on the couch and she crawled in his lap and cried herself into exhaustion. Managing to get out that Mick told her that he didn't love her the same way he did before, and he didn't know if he ever would again.

Josef calls down to the garage and has them bring the limo up next to the elevators. He is going to bundle her up and take her home. He doesn't want to wake her if he can help it. She is pretty well spent. Since it's morning, he's hoping she will keep right on sleeping until twilight.

As they ride through the early morning, Josef calls Robert, "I'm on my way home with a guest. Beth and Mick had some kind of blow up. She's been at the office most of the night. I'm bringing her with me. I'm not letting her go anywhere else until I find out what is going with them."

Robert snorts. "I'll lay you odds the idiot doesn't like the new and improved Beth." Robert has always liked Beth, but now that she's one of them she can do no wrong.

Josef sighs. "I'm afraid you're right." Josef hangs up.

Josef walks into the house with Beth in his arms. Robert comes to the door, takes one look at her and shakes his head. "I'm going to find Mick St. John and beat the hell out of him." The last time Josef saw Robert this mad he was standing at the bottom of these very stairs with Mick to protect Beth from Denton. _Good times…._

Josef shakes his head. "Calm down or you'll wake her. Robert, this is as much my fault as Mick's. I should have seen it coming. Maybe if I had just refused to turn her. I don't know."

Josef heads for the stairs. "I'm going to take her up and put her in her…own freezer." It was the freezer she had used when he had cared for her as a fledgling. The master bedroom has two separate freezer rooms off the main room where the regular bed was. She had slept in it all the time she was adjusting to her new world. She would at least wake up and know she was safe. She would sense him, and maybe that would give her some comfort until she started to think about Mick.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick sits in the dark and stares at the walls. He can't believe what an idiot he is to hurt Beth like this. He hasn't eaten; he hasn't slept since she bolted from the apartment. He followed her to make sure she got to Josef's all right. Josef would take care of her. Now he sits here in the dark trying to figure out how much damage he's done. It hurts so badly. He just doesn't know what to do about it. He can't live with her; she's not his Beth, and the loss is so painful. Beth, his Beth, is gone but can he learn to love this new Beth? He hadn't thought so, until she was gone. Now he wonders if it's too late. She's gone back to Josef and there is absolutely no reason Josef should encourage her to ever even speak to Mick again. Josef is her sire and it's his role to make sure that she is happy and secure in her new life. On top of that, Mick knows that Josef is in love with Beth. What happens from here is up to Josef.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef strips her down and lays her in her freezer and shuts the lid. He looks down at her and finally admits to himself, how much he loves and wants her to be his and only his. He tries not to think about it now, too much going on.

He wonders if she will want to stay and live here for a while. It would be odd to have here again, but grown up this time. Before when she lived here she was so dependent, so unBeth-like that he thought of her as a child, and a child was the last thing Josef wanted. He smiles. This though, this is a grown up vampire Beth. Of course, now, she was vulnerable again because of the break up with Mick.

He had always wondered if Mick would ever be able to accept this new Beth. One of the things that Mick loved the most about her was her humanity. It was what he lacked and loved in her. Josef wants to be wrong and knows that if anyone could surprise him it is Mick.

Josef goes in the other freezer room and gets in his own freezer. He wants to forget all this for a while and the oblivion of sleep is certainly one of the best ways he can think of to escape it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**As always I love to hear what you think……**


	2. Chapter 2

Beth wakes up with a start

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Beth wakes up with a start. She reaches out with her senses to see where she is. She immediately relaxes. She is home with Josef in her own freezer. She feels like such a damn fool. Josef tried to tell her this was a possibility, a very real possibility, and she hadn't wanted to believe it. Mick had always given in to her and given her whatever she wanted. He had always been there for her and she just couldn't imagine a reason he would abandon her. Well, now she knows. He doesn't love her anymore.

Beth thinks about what it means to be a vampire, all the great abilities that come with it, the longevity and all the other things she and most vampires consider benefits. Mick just looks at them as evidence that his humanity has slipped away. Now she knows why Josef could never understand Mick because, when she really steps back and thinks about it, she can't understand Mick either. Truth is, she loves this life so far. Certainly she hasn't lived much of it, but drinking her meals and sleeping during the day isn't much of a price to pay for all the good things that come with it. Beth realizes that maybe it is worth the trade. Maybe she wants to be a vampire whether Mick wants her to be one or not, because it is really what she wants, not for Mick, but for herself.

She will have to think about that later because it still hurts to think about Mick. She does love him, and it kills her that he doesn't love her the same, but she thinks she was meant to be a vampire. Maybe she just isn't meant to be one with Mick. Maybe he was meant to be there for her first life, and someone else is meant to be there for her second one.

She is hungry. It is time to get up and get on with it.

Josef feels her waking and stirring in the other room and wonders if he should go in and check on her. He put on some sweat pants. He wanders in to her freezer room and she is walking on the edge of her freezer like she was walking a tight rope. He smiles. She had started doing that in the morning to practice her balance and agility when she was still learning to adapt. It was something to see her doing it again, only this time without a stitch on. _Very nice sight. _He lets out a wolf whistle. She looks up at him and gives him a big smile. Now that warms his heart more than anything, that beautiful smile.

She looks up at him. "I'm going down for breakfast. You want some?" She jumps down and laughs as she finds a pair of his sweat pants and one of his t-shirts hanging on the hook. He realizes that Robert must have left it for her sometime while they were sleeping. "Robert is still one step ahead of both of us." She laughs again. "Thank goodness you seem to have an endless supply of sweats and t-shirts. Must be because you spend so much time in those stuffy suits." He starts to protest and sees the folly in arguing with her. She's always liked him in jeans and t-shirts more than the suits, and nothing is going to change that.

He watches her carefully to see if this is a facade or if she is truly bouncing back this quickly. He decides to go with it for now. "Sure. I could eat." He puts his arm out like he use to and she dips herself under it and wraps her arm around his waist and they go down to breakfast. She looks up at him shyly. "You think the girls will mind feeding me again?"

He laughs. "They missed you something terrible when you left. Remember when I didn't even want you spending time with Emily?"

Beth nods. "I thought it was because it was an outsider."

Josef laughs. "No dear, it was because you are so headstrong. It was bad enough having to deal with you, but I didn't need the girls picking it up as well. I suspect I got hoodwinking on more than one occasion by either you or Emily, or both, when you lived here."

She gives him one of her most innocent faces, and he knows he is dead on. "No, I'm guessing the girls will be glad to see you. I know they missed you. They would ask about you often."

Beth comes to a halt and doesn't move. Josef looks at her and realizes Mick is downstairs. Josef looks down at her. "You don't have to see him if you don't want to."

She shakes her head. "No it's time we got this over with. I can tell just standing here he regrets what he did. I guess I know him so well I can read his mood from here. He wants to apologize and try to work something out."

Josef looks surprised at her. He can tell she's mad. "Isn't that what you want? I know you love him."

Beth starts to shed some tears and he gently reaches up and wipes them away. "I do. Oh, God, I love him so much, but I'm not going to live with someone who thinks there is something wrong with what I am. I'll go in and talk to him; you go eat and I'll meet you."

She starts to walk away and he gently brings her back around to him. "I will be in the kitchen. Not far if you need me; you just call and I'll come for you." He pulls her into a hug and looks down at her. "There is not one damn thing wrong with you, you know that?" she nods at him through the tears. "Remember, call me if you need me." He thinks all she really has to do is get too upset and he'll easily feel it in the kitchen. He just doesn't want to intervene unless she asks or he feels it's absolutely necessary.

Beth smiles "He won't hurt me."

"I don't think he will hurt you physically, ever, but he might hurt you more emotionally than you can bear. You just call and I'll come in," Josef smiles "and throw his ass out."

She smiles "Ok." Beth heads to the sitting room to see Mick.

Josef enters the kitchen to a glowering Robert. Josef maybe her sire, but Robert, is her over protective uncle.

Josef smiles at him, trying to get him to lighten up. "Beth said she could tell from upstairs that Mick wants to apologize and try to work something out."

Robert quietly lets out a snarl. "Are you going to let her go back to him?"

Josef shakes his head at Robert. "It's not up to me. She's a big girl now, not a fledgling. She's a fully functioning vampire and I'd just as soon that was the way it stayed. I'm not telling her anything." Josef smiles. "Besides, I think Mick is about to find out just how much stupidity can cost you."

Robert looks surprised. "You think she's going to tell him no?"

"I don't know. That's what she said, but I also know she loves him very much and she may come face to face with him and change her mind."

Beth walks into the sitting room and Mick's standing there trying not to feel defeated before he opens his mouth. He can read her as well as she can read him. She knows he wants to try and work something out and he knows she's ready to tell him no. He can see that just by looking at the set of her mouth. Mick walks across to her and realizes she's wearing Josef's clothes and the logic of it makes sense since she left home with next to nothing but it doesn't stop him from wanting to put his fist through the wall. He calms himself. He doesn't want to add frightening her to his list of sins. "I'm sorry for being stupid. I do love you. It's just so different. I don't want to hurt you."

Beth starts to cry softly. "No. You know what I discovered? Even if you don't like me as a vampire, I like me as a vampire. I like me a lot this way and I'm not living with anyone who thinks there is something wrong with me for being one. To hell with you Mick St. John, this is who I am. You won't even make love to me."

Mick takes a step towards her and she takes one step back away from him. He reaches out to her. "Please. We can work this out."

She steps backward as he moves towards her. "No. If you loved me it wouldn't matter that I was a vampire. It never mattered to me that you are one."

That hit home hard and it makes Mick mad. "That's not fair. I was already a vampire when we met. You never knew me any other way."

She turns her back on him and won't look at him and he moves to turn her around to face him and she lets out a yelp and jumps back. It's enough to bring Josef into the room.

Mick turns again as he hears a voice in the doorway. Josef is leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "Get out. She said she doesn't want to talk to you."

Mick lets out a low growl and Josef doesn't move. "Mick you really want to do this? You remember the last time you gave me any shit about Beth? As I recall you ended up with my hand around your throat."

Beth turns back to Mick. "Just go. Don't make this any worse than it is. Just go. As long as you can't accept what you are, how can you accept what I am? Good-bye Mick. I'll always love you."

He stands there for a minute trying to reach out to her across the connection they've always shared and finds she's shutting him out completely. Mick stalks past Josef and slams the door behind him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth goes over and sits down on the couch and rocks back and forth trying so hard not to cry. She can feel Mick trying to reach across to her through their shared connection and she just shuts him out. It hurts too much. Josef is torn between trying to comfort her and going out and beating the hell out of Mick. In the end he can't leave her. She is tired of hurting and crying, but she just feels like she can't stop and soon the tears are flowing again. Josef gets comfortable next to her and opens his arms and she snuggles up and puts her face in his shoulder and cries for a little while. It just hurts too bad.

Josef had hoped from her demeanor this morning that this was going to go better.

Robert comes in with two glasses and a bottle of AB negative. He peeks in and Josef waves him in. Josef looks down at Beth. "Hey, Robert brought us breakfast." She shakes her head and puts her head back on his shoulder. "Josef, please just hold me for a while?"

"Of course. Whatever you want."

Josef motions for Robert to pour one glass and put it where Josef can reach it. He'll have some and maybe the smell will encourage her to have some as well. Josef rubs her back and drinks his blood. This is so reminiscent of the night he started to fall in love with her it almost makes him ache.

She finally stops crying and moves off of Josef, but he notices she doesn't move far. He sits up. "Are you going to be ok?" He continues to slowly rub her back not even realizing he's doing it. She nods, but he knows that look. She's biting her lip and that usually means no, but she'll tell him yes so he won't worry. "Hey, why don't you go take a shower and then I'll take one and we'll go back to plan A and go see the girls and have something to eat? They are probably wondering how come we didn't come down. You know you'll feel better if you have a shower and eat. At this rate you're going to be seriously over extended. That's not good for you."

She starts to get up from the couch but stops. She turns to him and asks, "Josef do you love me?"

He smiles at her. "Don't be silly. You know I do. I'm your sire. It doesn't matter what happens I will always love you."

He watches her and she is looking down and playing with a thread in her robe. Then he hears, "Not like that, like Mick use to love me, do you love me like that?"

Josef stops for a half second and sees the disappointment when he doesn't answer. He turns her chin up so she has to look at him. "I think right now the only thing you should worry about where I'm concerned is that I love you because I'm your sire." She makes a face at him. "And I will always love you. You need to sort out your feelings about Mick and leave me out of it. You don't need anymore confusion."

She looks down again and nods. "But Josef…..What if…."

"Beth, look at me." She looks up. "Do you love Mick?"

"Yes, but…."

"But what?"

"But what if I don't love him the same way I did before?"

Josef was glad he had developed pretty good control around her or she would have known that she got to him with that one. "Beth, are you sure or are you just trying to hurt him like he hurt you, or do you even know?"

She sighs. "I guess I don't know. But I might want to find someone else, someone who loves me the way I am."

Josef shakes his head. "Go take a shower. I think we need to have this conversation later after you've sorted out how you feel about Mick. Do you miss him?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, I miss him but that's not who or what we're talking about. At some point we are going to finish this conversation."

Josef smiles as she stalks off to go take a shower. Now that was the Beth that he remembered. The one that didn't take no for an answer, that was pushy and as much a pain in the ass as she was a delight. He wonders how come the only time she was her old self is when she was either denied what she wanted or mad about something.

Beth goes in and gets the water running. Funny how cold water feels so good now that she's a vampire. She remembers when Mick would turn the water warmer for her when they would take one together, when she was still human. She turns it up to see what he was feeling. It's fairly uncomfortable, but he did it for her. She turns it back down. Did she really want him to accept himself and her, or was she just trying to stick it to him for hurting her?

She thinks about what she asked Josef. She didn't really have to ask. She's known for a long time that he loves her the same way Mick does. It's one of the reasons she asked him to turn her, when he fed from her the night he was shot; she realized she trusted him as much as she trusted Mick. You don't force feed a wounded vampire and expect to come out the other side alive unless you know in your heart that there is a bond on some level. Beth thinks about the bond she has with Josef. Of course now it's completely different because he's her sire, but she doesn't think that's all there is to it. He doesn't think she remembers him telling her that he loved her the night she shot him, but she does. Beth smiles. She wonders how hard it would really be to make this relationship with Josef go in a different direction. The problem is she never wanted to ruin Josef's friendship with Mick, and if she doesn't end things with Mick right that is exactly what will happen. Josef is right about one thing, she really does need to find out how she feels about Mick. She won't do to them what she did to Mick and Josh.

Beth gets out of the shower and when she gets out she realizes she doesn't have any more clothes. She wraps a towel around herself and opens the door and finds a t-shirt and a pair of Josef's sweats waiting for her on the floor. She smiles. His legs are too long but it's better than nothing. She puts them on and rolls them up and goes to tell him he can have the shower.

If nothing else, she was going to have to see Mick to get her clothes back if she was going to stay here with Josef.

She finds him in the kitchen. "Hey it's all yours. You know, it's not like there is only one shower in this place."

He smiles. "Well, we'll work all that out later if you decide you want to stay."

He sees her face start to crumble. "Hey now, what's wrong?"

Beth starts to feel a little panicked thinking he wants her to leave. "Don't you want me to stay? Please don't make me leave."

"Hey, hey, Of course I want you to stay. You can stay as long as you want. I just thought you might want a different room. We could move your freezer so you could have your own room." Before Josef knows it, she's in his arms and he's holding her. She immediately relaxes. This is not good. She's regressing back to being dependent like she was a fledgling again.

Beth realizes this has to stop if she's going to get Josef to think of her more than his fledgling. She just can't help it at the moment. "No. I want to stay with you. Just like always."

This is going to kill him he thinks but he also thinks maybe she needs a comfort zone for now. Maybe next week she can move to her own room, if she hasn't worked things out with Mick. "That's fine. You can stay just where you are. I'm going to run up and take a shower. You go eat. I'm not hungry. I had a couple glasses while we were in the other room."

She shakes her head. "I'll just have a glass here then."

He shrugs and goes up to get his shower. He gets in the shower and it still smells of Beth. Her smell is all around him. He has got to move her into a different room if she stays. He gets done and walks down the stairs to find her in the kitchen looking like she's going to cry again. "Hey, you ok? What happened?"

"Nothing I'm mad at Mick, but I miss him."

Josef thinks about this. "You know, I would rather you didn't talk to him for a little while."

"How come?"

"I just don't want him upsetting you until you have a couple days to rest. I don't think you need him putting you in another emotional tailspin so soon. Let Mick sit. It might do him some good. Maybe he'll figure out how he really feels."

Beth smiles at him but he can see that she's on the verge of tears again. "Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't you go swim in the pool for a bit and then later we'll go for a walk."

She brightens. "I'd like that. I'll be back after a while."

Robert is shaking his head. "While you were upstairs she was asking me if I thought you loved her like Mick loves her?"

Josef shakes his head. "She asked me that earlier. I wish I knew where that was coming from. What did you tell her?"

Robert shrugs. "I told her she was going to have to ask you. What did you tell her?"

"The truth, that I will always love her because I'm her sire and that's all she needs to worry about because she has to straighten out her feelings for Mick."

Robert looks at him disgusted. "That's not the whole truth and you and I both know it. She probably even knows it. You've been in love with her practically since she took that shot at you in the dark."

"I want her happy. For once I want to do the right thing for everyone. I've been in love before and had it not work out. I'll survive." For all his noble words Josef knows he should probably be encouraging Beth to work something out with Mick, but he just can't make himself do it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**As always I love to hear what you think……**


	3. Chapter 3

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent :)  
**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued  
**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The rest of the night is uneventful

Things seem to be quieting down. Beth has her swim and finally goes and sees the girls and has a great time visiting and having some dinner. Josef had Robert go down earlier and tell the girls not to bring up Mick's name unless Beth did. He didn't want them to unknowingly upset her. Beth's mood seems to have finally evened out and she's relaxing. Beth comes back from seeing the girls and has on a different outfit. He'd forgotten that Beth and Emily are the same size. Well, that will solve the clothing problem for a day or so, but it's not a permanent solution.

Josef smiles at her. "You ready for a walk?"

For the fist time since she came running home to him, she actually looks happy. "Oh, that sounds nice. I missed that."

As before, they just started walking the grounds. Josef always let Beth lead without really realizing that's what she was doing. He wanted her to go where she was comfortable. The whole point was to get her to talk.

"Josef, you've known Mick practically since Coraline turned him?"

Josef nods. "You know that."

"What I want to know, is why you think it is that he can't see all the good things he does, all the people he's touches, make him that good man we all know and not a monster?"

"Do you really want to get into this with me and not Mick?"

"I just want to know what you think."

"Sometimes if a fledgling is shocked too badly the trauma can damage them forever. I'm not so sure that the absolute betrayal that Coraline perpetrated on him wasn't the type of shock that's made it so he could never quite be whole again."

"Do you think there is anyway for him to get past whatever it is that makes him the way he is about being a vampire?"

"Truthfully, I don't know. I've been trying for fifty years, but I have to admit my efforts aren't exactly subtle either. Planting redheads in his bed probably was not the best way to go about it." He smiles ruefully at her.

Beth makes a halfhearted attempt to hit him. "Josef, that's terrible. Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because my dear, sometimes I'm an ass. I was mad. Mick and I use to have some great times back before he saved some little blond waif from Coraline. We really had a lot of fun. I was mad because I lost my drinking buddy."

She thinks about this for a minute. "Before he found me" she smiles "When you two were out raising hell together, was he that much different than he is now?"

Josef thinks back trying to compare Mick then and now. He sees that she is really trying to understand. Maybe in ways that he himself never bothered. "I would say not too much different, not the way it counts to Mick. Not as sensitive as he is now, but truthfully the same, what he would consider, good man he is now. If he hadn't been he wouldn't have taken the case to look for you in the first place.

You know, there are probably a few things you don't know. First off, he didn't know that Coraline was involved until he had taken the case and he went to see your room and smelled her. Second of all, he agreed to look for you for free because your mom didn't have hardly any money at all. If he had been as terrible as he says, he wouldn't have agreed to look for you for free and he would have walked away when he realized Coraline was involved, but he didn't. Now that I think back he took quite a few cases gratis even back then."

"Beth, since we're talking about Mick and his hang ups, I want to ask you something. If you don't think you want to answer or you want to just tell me it's none of my business that's fine but I'm mostly just curious."

She nods.

"Before you were turned when you and Mick would make love, did he ever bite you?"

She smiles at the memory. "Oh yea."

He laughs. She's practically purring. "Do you think he did it because you both enjoyed it or because he knew you liked it?"

She looked indignant. "I find it pretty hard to believe he wasn't enjoying it as much as I was."

Josef laughs at her. "Now, after you were turned, did he bite you ever?"

"Well…. no" He watches her and sees her looking down. "Since he hasn't wanted me since I was turned."

Josef narrows his eyes at her. "Are you saying what I think your saying? You two haven't made love since you were turned, not once?" Selfishly Josef realizes he feels a little relief at that revelation. He gives himself a mental head slap at the jealousy raising its ugly head and for not thinking of what's best for Beth. It's not a good sign, though, that they will work it out.

Beth sighs. "Not once. I should have known right then that something was not right. I mean before it was…pretty darn amazing…. now he won't even…. doesn't even seem to…." Beth shrugs and looks lost.

Great, Josef thinks. Not only has he damaged her sense of security, but she's probably also questioning a lot of other things about herself. He's surprised this hasn't blown up long before this. Usually young ones like this like sex a lot and there has never been any reason to think that Beth would be any different. Since, most turns are done by lovers it's usually a nice benefit. She had understood why it was different with them and Josef hadn't thought much about it because he was sure Mick would be more than happy to be there for her, now to find out that it wasn't the case. If Mick was that withdrawn from her than he doubted they could really work anything out. Josef shakes his head. He thinks of the sight of a very naked Beth walking the side of her freezer without any clothes on and that beautiful smile. Mick must be made of stone to not grab her every chance he can. For a vampire, he has some very peculiar attitudes.

Josef returns to the subject hat hand. "Why do you think that is?"

Beth shakes her head. "He's not attracted to me….or just doesn't like me anymore….maybe he's right…maybe there is something wrong with me. Nobody wants me…you don't want me, Mick doesn't want me."

Josef lets out a growl and pulls her into his arms. "You are out of your mind if you think I don't want you. Believe me if that was the way it was for us before it would still be that way, only…."

He hears a small smile in her voice. "Only?"

"Yea, only better." He growls. "Mick is a fool. I want to ask you some thing else and like always you don't have to tell me if you don't want. Is this why he finally told you that he didn't love you the same? Was it because you didn't understand why he wouldn't make love to you?"

Beth nods at him.

The more Josef thinks about it the madder he gets. He had trusted Mick and Mick better than anyone has to know what she needs. _Damn him._ When they get back to the house Josef is going to call Mick and have a talk with him.

They lapse into a silence while they walk along for a bit. Finally, Josef stops and Beth turns back and waits for him. He walks up and gathers her up in his arms. He looks down at her. "I just want to make sure you understand one thing, this isn't about you, this problem with Mick not wanting to make love to you, it's about Mick and his stupid hang ups. Do you understand that?"

"I guess, it's just that neither do you…I mean you say you would if it was that way for us but……."

Josef looks down at the hurt in her eyes and can't stand it anymore; he thinks he's going to kill Mick. "Beth…..I do want you, I just don't want you torn between the two of us. You're having enough problems figuring out how you feel about Mick. You don't need more complications…please believe me, I do want you."

She nods but he's not sure if she believes him or not. They lapse into silence again and she leads them back to the house. It's getting late. He hopes she's tired enough from the swim and the walk to get a good night sleep. "You go on up. I have to couple of things to take care of and then I'll be up, ok?"

She gives him a tired smile and goes up the stairs.

Josef goes into his study and shuts the door. He picks up the phone to call Mick.

In the split second before Mick answers Josef hears a click on his end. There is only one person who would dare listen in on his phone calls and could even do it. She's upstairs in the master bedroom on the only extension to this phone. He shakes his head. He should have used his cell. Josef has only a second to decide what to do. It's not fair to have this conversation and not clue Mick in that they have an audience, but then he thinks of the way Mick has been treating Beth, and Josef thinks screw it. He's been a good guy to Mick too long on this subject and it's hurting Beth. No more. He'll let Mick hang himself or not.

Mick looks down and sees its Josef. He lets out a sigh. He knew this was coming. Mick decides he better get this over with. "Josef?"

"Mick, don't come out here. I don't want you to see her for a while. It took me quite a while to get her calmed down after your last visit. That's enough."

"Josef, you can't stop me from seeing Beth."

"Want to bet me on that?" The threat of violence in Josef's voice is unmistakable.

"Damn it Josef, I think we can work something out."

"You should have thought of that before you hurt her. You know, almost a year ago I had a conversation not too much different than this with you about her and I told you then that you had to come to terms with her being turned because I could see it coming even then and you told me you could. Then before she was turned we did this dance over what you can and can't accept. No more. Until she specifically tries to over rule me you don't get to see her or talk to her. If she pushes like Beth does when she really wants something then fine. Until that happens, you don't see her again and if that means ever, so be it. I'm tired of you screwing with her head."

Josef hears Mick growl through the phone. "You just want her for yourself."

Josef smiles thinly. "And what if I do? Believe me you wouldn't recognize how much of a gentleman I've been up to this point, but you know what? I've about had it. You had your chance and blew it. If I didn't think it would confuse her even more I would have taken her to my bed a long time ago. She wants so badly to believe that someone loves her it's heart breaking. I can't believe you can't even bring yourself to make love to her? My God, are you crazy? This is Beth…. the love of your life? I trusted you to take care of her. You said you would and you know damn good and well that one of the things they need the most at this age is a lot of fun happy sex with someone they love and trust. If you weren't going to take care of her like you were expected to, if making love to her was such a hardship then you should have sent her home to me."

"Yea, so you could have lots of fun happy sex with her?"

Josef growls. "You're damn right because at least I love her the way she is. This isn't supposed to be about your stupid jealous impulses. It's supposed to be about the best thing for Beth. At this point it's obviously not you, so don't come out here."

Mick pauses he sounds defeated. "Josef, I love her, I just don't love her the same way, but I think it will be ok…..just different."

"Mick, it's not good enough. She deserves better than some halfhearted attempt and you know it. I'm doing my best to let her make her own decisions on this and not muddy things because I want her to be happy, and that's the last I'm saying on it. You stay away. If she wants to see you and really pushes for it, then I'll let you see her, but that's the only way. If you come out here I'll kick your ass, but good, and you know I can and will. You've got her so confused she's taken a step or two backwards, and that means I'm going to go right back to protecting her from anyone that she needs protecting from and that includes you."

"We'll see about this Josef." Josef hears Mick hang up and he listens for Beth to hang up and she does.

Josef sits in the chair trying to decide if he should let Beth know that he heard her on the extension. Decision made, he heads up the stairs to confront his eavesdropper. Josef enters the bedroom and senses that she's in her freezer trying to convince him that she's been there all along. He walks over and taps on the glass top and looks in at her. _Damn she's beautiful_. Beth looks up at him trying to look as innocent as she can. Josef lets her know with a look that he's not buying it. He motions to her to get up and come into the other room as he heads for the bedroom. He hopes she puts something on. This is not a conversation he wants to have with her while she's naked.

She comes out of her freezer room wrapped in her robe. "What?"

"Beth, don't ever do that again."

She knows she's been caught. "Alright. I just knew you were going to call Mick and I wanted to hear. I knew when you found out that he doesn't want to touch me that you would be mad…..Josef, did you mean what you said to Mick?"

"Every word. But Beth I mean it, do not listen in on my phone calls ever again. I trust you, you have to trust me." Josef sighs as he sees her fighting the tears back.

"I trust you, but you guys are always talking about me and I never know what is going on because you make decisions for me and I'm sick and tired of it." And she walks off to her freezer.

Josef watched her go and had to admit that she was right. They had been doing that all along and that was probably why she wasn't the same unless she was mad at him. Maybe it was time to change his attitude as well.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth wakes up and thinks about the mess she's put them all in, she knew Josef loved her and she asked him to turn her anyway. She shouldn't have done it. As usual she was looking for a safety net and that was how she ended up hurting Josh, next it was going to be hurting Mick and that she couldn't bear. Beth gets up and gets dressed and goes down to Josef's study. He's on the phone with Ryder so she goes down to see the girls on her own. She knows he could be a while when it's work.

Beth goes back to see if he's done talking to Ryder and wonders into his study. She watches him going over reports. She hates to interrupt him. "Josef, you know, you don't have to stay home with me all the time. If you need to go into the office then go. I'm fine. I feel a lot better today. I still have no idea what I'm going to do, but I feel calmer today."

Josef looks up at her and shakes his head. He gets up and comes around and sits on the corner of his desk. "No way. You heard Mick and me on the phone. I know him, he's going to stew about this and then he's going to show up out here. It's just a matter of when."

Beth makes a sour face at him. "You know if Mick comes out here to see me it's not the end of the world. He wouldn't hurt me."

Josef smiles sadly. "That's not the point. I told him to stay away. Beth, I told you if you really wanted to see him you could. Do you?"

"No, I suppose not, at least not yet. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to say to him and how bad it's going to hurt."

"If you change your mind and really want to see him that's one thing but I told him to stay away. If it takes me kicking Mick's ass a couple times to make my point, so be it."

She can tell he's not going to change his mind.

Josef switches to what he hopes will be a more pleasant topic. "You know, I think you need to go back to work."

She looked at him and is surprised at the comment. "How come? I wanted to do that a month ago and you and Mick said I wasn't ready."

He smiles at her. "And we can't be wrong? Sitting here, talking to you about Mick, last night, seeing you trying to figure out the puzzle has reminded me how much that inquisitive mind of yours needs to be engaged in something interesting." He smiles at her. "If you want I'll buy you a newspaper."

Beth laughs. "No, I don't think that will be necessary."

"We talked about it before you were turned. You said you could do print to get back to work and not have to worry about being on camera. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you when you asked it a month ago. I think you were right when you suggested it, your instincts were right. I think you need to go back to work."

Josef continues, "You know, maybe what Mick misses isn't the human you, but the human you were before. I hate to say it, but you aren't the same because you really aren't all the way back on your feet from fledgling status."

"Am I that different?"

"Some, but I think it's my fault because I haven't been listening to you. I was trying too hard to protect you. In fact, Mick and I are probably both guilty of that." He turns and smiles at her. "You do that to people you love, you get overprotective."

Before Josef knows it she is in his arms and out of nowhere she is kissing him. Not the kind of kiss he was use to from her, this was a full on the mouth, 'baby oh, baby I love you and I want you' kiss.

_Damn_

** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**As always I love to hear what you think……**


	4. Chapter 4

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent :)  
**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued  
**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

It surprises him so much that before he knows what is going on he is reacting to her, returning her kiss and deepening it. She is tasting him and running her tongue over his fangs as they are starting to come to the forefront. He lets out a growl of pleasure and he feels a smile on her lips. She reaches under his shirt. It feels like little jolts of electricity everywhere as she touches him. He finally comes to his senses and grabs her wrists and he breaks the kiss. She smiles at him. "I want you." He can hear the desire loud and clear in her voice. She shakes her hands free from his grasp and starts to snake her hands under his shirt again. He stands up and moves away from her. He's breathing rapidly and he knows his fangs are showing and his eyes are crystal blue. He can see the tears glistening in her eyes. Her back is stiff and she turns to leave the room. "Damn" he growls. He pushes the predator down and returns to his human face. He grabs her and turns her around so she's facing him. "Where in the hell is this coming from? Do you what you are doing to me?" He knows how he sounds and he can't help it. His voice sounds ragged and dry to his ears. He wants her so bad and if she were any other woman, but Beth, he would have had her a long time ago...but not this one…..not Beth…..she's not his….. ..he hears the predator in his head asking _and why not? You want her, I want her, we want her and she wants us…_

Beth swings around and tries to leave again and again he grabs her arm, this time bringing her back in front of him so he can bring her over to the couch and make her sit down so she's sitting across from him. "Yesterday you wanted to have this conversation and I put you of. Well, I'm sorry because apparently we need to have it right now."

He looks across at her and she's got her arms crossed and she's staring at him. He can see her trying to close herself off so she can protect herself. He gets up and sits on the coffee table so that his knees are on the outside of hers, just touching. He needs her to understand that he's not abandoning her or rejecting her, he's just not going to sleep with her. _Right now_

"Beth, where is this coming from? In all the time we've known each other, you've never done anything remotely like that. Why now? Is this because you feel like Mick abandoned you or are you trying to get even with him for hurting you?"

She starts to cry. "I can't just want you? It can't be just that simple, that I want you?"

"No, and you know it. You and Mick have been practically joined at the hip since that day he talked to you at the fountain and now after all of this you want to all of a sudden have sex with me?"

"No Josef, not have sex. I want to make love to you. I love you too. I love you both. Don't you know, I'm good at that?" He hears the bitterness in her voice. She's remembering Lindsey and keeping him around while she and Mick worked something out.

Josef takes her hands in both of his. He slowly runs his thumbs over her palms trying to calm her. "You are not a bad person. What happened to Josh was not your fault. But if we do this, if I take you upstairs and make love to you, how do you think it makes me feel the next time I see Mick?"

"Worse yet, how does it make me feel when I see in your eyes the next day that you regret it?" She starts to protest. "You would, if you haven't come to some closure with Mick. I know you. You're still having problems with the fact that you were in love with Josh and Mick at the same time. What do you think it would feel like if you were still in a relationship with Mick and we made love?" She looks down, he knows her so well.

"I have always tried to be honest with you on everything, except probably this, and maybe it's time for that too. Yes, you know that I love you, you know that I want you. You asked so you could bring it out in the open. Maybe that's a good thing; I don't know. It doesn't matter how I feel. Mick is my friend, even if I would like to wring his neck most of the time; and I love you because I'm your sire and I want you both to be happy. I think you need to leave me out of it."

He can see her trying not to cry. "If I promise to be good, will you hold me here in the dark and listen to me?"

"Of course. Move over."

She moves to the middle of the couch. He sits in the corner and holds his arm out and she snuggles up next to him. He's not sure what's going through her mind or what she's feeling and that bothers him. He should be able to tell. The only thing he's getting from her is confusion. "Josef, when you fought Lola and got hurt and I…..fed you, why did you think I did it?"

He laughs. "Got hurt? You shot me!"

Beth smiles. "If you hadn't cut Lola's head off so neatly, she'd have taken those last two bullets instead of you. It's your own fault."

He smiles in the dark. "The truth?"

"Yes, the truth."

"Because I thought you were a crazy human that trusted vampires far too much. Remember when I came to see you after that to thank you?" He feels her nod against his side. "I was just so blown away. To be honest it scared me to death that you trusted me that much."

"Josef I fed you, for a lot of reasons; you were Mick's friend, I owed you for saving me, but most of all because I loved you even then. It wasn't the kind of love it is now, but it was there all the same. I went back to Mick because it was where you said I belonged, and I thought you were right. I'm not so sure anymore."

"Beth, I just don't think it's meant to be right now." Suddenly he feels like he's going to do something stupid.

Gently he moves her away from her and he stands up. "I have to go for a walk."

"Can I go?"

"No. Please I just need some time to think."

He can't look at her. He can smell the tears in the air. Damn, he hates hurting her. Maybe he will beat the hell out of Mick just for starting all of this. Josef heads for the front door and he walks out into the darkness. As soon as he closes the door behind him he looks out into the shadows. "I know you're there. Do I look like I've lost my ability to smell?"

Mick walks out from the shadows. "I want to see her Josef, now."

Josef sighs. "You're really going to make me kick your ass, aren't you? Undoubtedly you think Beth will run out here when she realizes you're out here getting your head handed to you and come to your rescue. That may happen, but think about this. She was eavesdropping on our call last night and she heard me say that I didn't want you out here. She also heard me say, that if she really pushed she could see you. You remember me saying that?"

Mick nods.

"Well, did you get a phone call from her, even one? She doesn't want to see you, I know that hurts your ego and you just can't imagine that the woman whose heart you've broken doesn't want to see you, but she doesn't." Josef starts to growl low in his chest. "I told you not to come out here, and I will hurt you if that's what it takes for you to get the message."

Mick paces back and forth in front of Josef for a minute. "Josef I've come to a decision and I really need to talk to her about it. It will be better if I do."

Josef blocks his path and the two of them start to circle on another.

Beth is in the house not knowing why Josef left to go for a walk without her. She considers going after him and all of a sudden feels waves of anger flowing off Mick and Josef, and she realizes they are just outside. She looks out the window and sees that so far no contact has been made, but she can see this is going to escalate and someone could get hurt and she won't have that, not because of her. She decides it's time to remove herself from both of them.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef and Mick are circling each other when Josef hears the unmistakable roar of the Ferrari. He stops to look down the driveway, and he sees her driving way too fast. She's fish tailing all over the place. He watches as she straightens the car out at the last minute and just misses the front gate pillar.

"You know, this whole mess is your entire fault. I'm going to go grab the Porsche, but I'm sure she's going to have a big head start, and unless she cracks it up somewhere I won't catch her. I'm going after her, you can either go or not."

Josef gets in the Porsche and guns the engine, Mick jumps in as they speed out the gate.

Josef grabs his phone and calls back to the house. "Robert, she's gone. Damn it. If you see her call me and let me know she's home. Go tell Emily and the girls the same and you tell Emily if she hides her, I'll wring both their necks. It's important Emily know not to hide Beth."

"Josef what happened?"

"I disappointed her. What else?"

Josef makes one more call….."Ryder I need you to track the Ferrari License number bldlust" Nobody in their right mind, even a vampire, has a car worth that much and doesn't have a way to track it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth is swerving down the mile long road from the top of the hill down into the valley below Josef's house. She thinks grimly she should crash Josef's Ferrari, but then he would catch up to her. She saw the two of them in the driveway and she's sure they're right behind her. Problem is, Josef drives much better than she does. Although she doubts he's ready to run her off the road to stop her. He'd hurt his damn car if he did that. Damn them, both of them.

Beth finally hits the freeway and now she knows they don't have a prayer of finding her, especially if she can think of a good place to hide from them. She's sure, by now, he's alerted Robert and the girls, and Mick is probably with him in the Porsche. Beth knows Josef, and he always covers all the bases. So, he and Mick will be looking in all her favorite places. To hell with them, maybe she'll just check into a hotel….damn she forgot her purse, so of course she has no money and no license. Crap, if she gets pulled over she could end up in jail and what would she do then? If that happens she would have to call one or the other of them because she sure can't stay in jail.

To hell with it, she's going back to her own apartment. If they show up she just won't let them in.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Ryder is downloading the GPS tracking map to Josef's car in real time so he can see where she is going. It doesn't take long, and he knows where she is headed.

Josef pulls up and sees his car sitting in her old parking spot. He lets out a sigh…. "This is really bad. This was not going to help her any."

Mick looks at him and shakes his head. "Josef, what happened? This is not just about us fighting."

"Oh, I don't know, lets review, how far back do you want to go? How far back do we go to see how we were all headed to this moment?"

Mick hears the bitterness in Josef's voice; he knows it's covering a lot of pain. This is bad enough for Mick, but he imagines Josef is getting a double dose.

"Hmmmm this damn little blond took a shot at me in the dark because she was scared, but not so scared that she wasn't going to try and take me out with her. Then we skip forward and she stays at my house, in my bed for a week, half the time crying herself to sleep on my shoulder. Oh, and lets see, did I mention that she finally did shoot me and then forced me to drink from her neck to save my life? Damn it Mick!" Josef slams his hand into the steering wheel.

Mick doesn't say anything, he just lets Josef vent. "If all that isn't bad enough, she comes to me and wants me to turn her. I'm tempted to tell her no because I'm afraid I won't want to ever let her go, but if I don't, I have to risk someone doing it who doesn't care for her enough. Oh and the idea of anyone else having that kind of connection with her drives me nuts. Did I mention her boyfriend is an idiot and went along with this against his own better judgment? So once again, the little blond is in my house, for far longer than a week and she sleeping next to me or in the next room, wearing clothes when it is convenient. Then her boyfriend, who didn't really want her to be turned, decides that she isn't the same and he rejects the woman who has loved him and pulled him out of the dark, how many times?" Mick is looking down….

So she goes to the only other vampire that she knows and loves in any real way, her sire, who happens to be so deeply in love with her that he can barely breathe and guess what? He sends her packing as well."

"Mick, I have to ask you, are you out of your mind? You can't even bring yourself to make love to her? I just can't even imagine….you have no idea the damage you've done. I had no idea or I would have come and gotten her a long time ago."

"Josef, she's not Beth...I kept thinking I could get past it and it would be ok again.…." Josef watches Mick try to grasp for the right words. "It's stupid, I know it. I just can't help it. She's not warm, she doesn't smell the same; she has no heartbeat."

Josef snorts at him. "No kidding you idiot. She's dead. What the hell did you think she was going to be like?"

Mick just shakes his head. "You know the worse part? I think it's more that she doesn't need me anymore. Does that just say so much about me? I spent so many years looking out for her that I don't know how to be anything else besides her protector, and now she doesn't need me. Talk about messed up. I could probably get used to the other stuff. I was married to a vamp. I know what it feels like to make love to one. It can be very, very good, but I don't know what to do about the other part."

Mick leans forward and puts his head on the dash. "Josef I think I need to go up and say good-bye to her. That's what I wanted to tell her tonight when you wouldn't let me see her. I think it's time she was with someone who isn't going to compare this Beth with the human one. I just want to be her friend again…..maybe someday…."

Josef shakes his head. "That's what I'm talking about. I'm so busy trying to protect her that I'm not thinking straight. I'm sorry I didn't at least ask you what you wanted."

Mick smiles. "Did you ever explain forever in vampire terms to her?"

Josef smiles. "Not really. I'll have to do that. Actually it might help her adjust to what is going on."

Josef shakes his head "Mick, if you say good-bye to her, you'll lose her. It's that simple. I will not give her up again. I won't do it. Once is bad enough. I've tried like hell to give her enough room to decide what she wants, but if she makes a move in my direction I sure as hell am not going to turn her away again. And believe me it won't take much encouragement to get her to come to me again."

Mick closes his eyes. "I don't like hurting her. You're right. I don't think that I can get past this right now. I can't stand seeing her hurt because I still do love her." Mick sighs…. "I think that maybe the two of you need to just be together for awhile, however you want. I'll always love her and she'll always love me, but that doesn't mean that she's meant to be with me now that she's not human."

Josef nods his head. "She pretty much said the same thing."

Josef snorts. "You know she would be really pissed if she figures out, or I should say…, she's going to be really pissed when she figures out that you and I again are working her life out for her. She hates it when we do that."

Mick shakes his head. "Well, then she shouldn't have put us in the position of having to do it, by loving us both."

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**I really like reviews. :)  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories. :)  
**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**Chapters like this are actually the reason this story is rated M... :)  
**

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick gets out of the car and goes up to say good-bye. His steps are slow and hesitant. Is this really what he wants? Josef said it himself, if Mick gives her up now; she's gone. Josef will fight for her. Mick smiles sadly. At least if he's losing her to someone else it's someone he knows will be good to her and love her. He reaches her door and just stands there, not wanting to hurt them both again. He hears her through the door telling him to open the door and come in. As usual her curiosity has gotten the best of her. He opens the door and walks in. She gives him a sad smile. " Hey."

Mick walks over and gently takes both of Beth's hands in his. He smiles sadly. "Beth, I'm sorry. I'll always love you, but right now I think it's best if you move back to Josef's. Maybe we could be friends for a couple of decades and see how it goes."

She smiles at him through the tears. "That's why you didn't fight me on this isn't it? You wanted me to be alive even if it didn't work out so maybe someday it might."

Mick smiles at her, "That, and I can't imagine a world without you in it." He hugs her and looks down at her. "You know, Josef loves you an awful lot."

She snorts at him. "We'll see."

Mick hugs her again "Beth, I'm going to leave town for awhile. The weather here is starting to get to me. I'll box up your stuff and call Josef. He can have one of his guys come pick it up." He looks down at her. "You know you can always call me if it's an emergency." He leans down and places a gentle kiss on her forehead.

Beth nods and remembers the excuse he always gave her for staying so long in LA was the weather when they both knew it was to be there for her. She realizes it really is over. He gives her one last hug and leaves. Beth lays down on the couch and curls up in a ball trying to keep from crying herself to sleep again. _Damn men._

Josef gets out of the car as Mick approaches. "How is she?"

"I think you're right. You need to get her out of that apartment. Not a good place for her to be. We said our good-byes. I told her, and I'll tell you. I'm leaving town for a while. Before I leave I'll box her stuff up and call you. Can you get one of your guys to come over and get her stuff? Remember Josef, you can always get me on my cell if it's an emergency. No matter what, if she needs me I'll be there."

Josef nods. "Sure. Mick, go ahead and take the Porsche back to the house. That way you can pick up your car and I don't have to have somebody make an extra trip."

"Thanks, Josef. I know you'll love her and take good care of her." They shake hands and Mick takes off in the Porsche.

Josef heads upstairs to get Beth out of her apartment. He approaches the door and can hear her crying. This was a bad idea. She should not have come back here. She hasn't been back since she was turned. Now that she's miserable and back in the last place where she was human, saying good-bye to Mick, she might start to regret her decision and that would be terrible.

He raises his hand to knock on the door and before he can, she swings it open and looks at him and before he knows it she's weeping in his arms. He picks her up, grabs the Ferrari keys off the table and heads for the car. She wraps her arms around his neck and buries her face in his shoulder.

He doesn't want her in that apartment. He should have talked her into getting rid of it when she left her old life behind. He looks down at her as he carries her to the car. He realizes he has spent an inordinate amount of time with her crying in his arms. He opens the door to the car and puts her in and shuts the door. Josef gets in and drives them home.

She's not crying anymore. She's just looking out the side window not looking at him or speaking, finally she falls asleep. He pulls into the garage and turns to the man in charge of his cars and growls at him as he goes around the car to get Beth. Jack lowers his eyes. He knows he's going to hear about Beth being able to get her hands on the keys to the Ferrari. He will be lucky is Josef doesn't skin him alive.

Josef pushes down his anger at the man and opens the passenger's side door and picks Beth up. He carries her inside the house and Robert meets him at the door. "You know I wanted to beat the hell out of Mick for breaking her heart. You keep this up and you'll be next. This is bullshit."

"You're right. It is, and it ends here." Josef looks down as she stirs in his arms. "I'll be right back. As usual of late, she's worn out from crying because of all the idiots around her."

Robert smiles when Josef says that. It sounds like maybe he has come to his senses.

Josef takes her upstairs and gently puts her on the bed. She curls up as he covers her with a light blanket and goes back downstairs.

Josef finds Robert in the kitchen. "I want you to call a storage company, something close, and rent a couple of big lockers. If she wants something she won't have to go far to get it. Then I want you to arrange with a moving company to have all of her stuff in her apartment boxed up and put into storage. I don't want her going back there again. That is not a good idea. There shouldn't be anything in the apartment that can't be packed away since she was planning on being gone for some time anyway. Get someone in to clean out the apartment and do whatever to pay off the lease. I repeat, I don't want her going back there."

Robert shakes his head and turns to do what Josef asked.

Josef knows that look. "Ok, just what was that for?"

Robert shrugs. "I agree with you, the apartment needs to go and she should never go back there again but did you happen to mention to her that you were going to do this or are you still making all her decisions for her?"

Josef shakes his head. "This is too important for me to leave it up to her. I'm making this decision whether she likes it or not, as her sire and her friend. If she starts wishing she was back in her old life then she's going to end up like Mick, and one of those is enough. I won't have her end up like that. When she asked me to sire her she gave me the power to step in and do what has to be done if I think it's detrimental to her, and this is. Robert, just do it. I'll worry about the fallout later."

Robert turns to the phone and starts making arrangements. Josef opens his phone and calls Ryder. "How are things at the office?"

"Fine. You know this place it can manage pretty well on its own. You've got some of the best people and they are loyal." _More like scared shitless_ Josef thinks. "Are you going to be gone for awhile?" Ryder asks

"Yes," is all the growl Ryder gets. Ryder knows better than to ask Josef anything, but if he had to guess it has to do with Beth. Since she apparently had gotten away with the Ferrari. "You tell everyone they report to you and if you even suspect there is anything I should know, you call me."

"Will do. I'll also email you weekly reports like before."

"Good." Josef can feel her stirring upstairs. "I've got to go."

Josef takes the stairs two at a time. He walks into the bedroom and sees her sitting on the bed with her back to the door. "Go get in the shower. You're a mess." He says to her back. He watches her back stiffen and he smiles. He can almost see her resolve to not do what he says. "Ok, if you are going to act like a spoiled brat then I'm going to start treating you like one." Josef walks across the room, throws her up over his shoulder and kicks the bathroom door open. He reaches in to the shower with one hand and turns the cold water on. He sets her down in the middle of it, clothes and all, and turns around and walks out.

A stunned Beth recovers quickly. He hears her growl at him as he walks out of the bathroom. And he sees a wet washcloth sail past his head. He grabs it as it goes by and turns and throws it right back at her. It hits her right across the face. He watches as she grabs it off her face and she stares at him, the anger bubbling up and threatening to over take her. Good, he thinks and he walks away.

Beth stands in the shower with all her clothes on wondering what has changed. Clearly Josef is not treating her like he did before she took off. _Oh, that's it. He's just mad because I took his precious car._ She smiles to herself and gets out of her wet clothes in the shower and cleans up. When she gets out of the shower and gets dressed Josef is nowhere to be seen. _Good. He thinks so damn much of his car, I'll fix him._

Beth goes down to the garage and looks around. The garage guy is standing there shaking his head and he looks behind her. She didn't think Josef would be down here waiting for her. Josef looks at Jack. "Jack, don't worry about it. I'll take care of this." Jack decides to make himself scarce and hightails it out the side door. Josef looks at Beth. He's got the Ferrari keys dangling between his fingers. "Looking for these?"

She shakes her head. "Actually no." she walks over to the workbench where the tools are laying around. "No, actually I was looking for this." Beth picks up a hammer and heads for the Ferrari, but Josef has prepared himself for just about anything. He gets to the car and has her hands in his before she can strike. Beth tries to wiggle free of him but he's not having any of it. "Like I said, you want to act like a spoiled brat, I'll treat you like one." He forces her to drop the hammer.

He throws her over his shoulder, again and marches up the stairs with her. Beth's fangs are showing and her eyes are turning crystal blue. She's kicking, screaming and running her nails deep into his back, ruining another of his shirts. It hurts like hell, but it doesn't stop Josef for a minute. Even in full vamp she's no match for him.

Robert watches them go and smiles.

Josef opens the bedroom door and sets her down inside. "You can just stay up here until you're ready to stop acting like a brat. You've been making everyone who loves you crazy and it stops now. I've babied you for the last time. You start acting like a reasonable adult or you'll stay in here for the rest of your unnatural life. You are not a fledgling anymore, so stop acting like it."

She starts to interrupt him and he stops her. "There's more. We might as well get it all out at once. As your friend and your sire I will not permit you to go back to that apartment again."

She looks at him shocked. "What do you mean you won't permit me to go back to that apartment again? I've got news for you, I'll do what I bloody well want and not you or anyone else can stop me."

Josef takes a deep breath. "We can do this the easy way and you can hear me out or you can fight me every step of the way, but I'm telling you right now for your own well being, your own mental health; you are not going back there again. I will tie you to the freezer if I have to."

Beth looks at his eyes and knows he's not kidding, he'd do it. She decides she might as well listen to him. She crosses her arms and stares right back at him.

He watches her and tries to hide a smile. _Good, that fire is still in there somewhere_. Josef tries to stare her down and she doesn't even flinch. _That's my girl._

"Ok Josef, you've got one chance to convince me that there is a good reason for this."

Josef paces back and forth a couple of times. "You would agree with me that Mick is not a well adjusted vampire?"

Beth shrugs and then nods. "Yea, but what's that got to do with my apartment?"

"Beth, truthfully I should have insisted you get rid of it when you left your old life behind. Sitting in that apartment crying about your new life is not healthy. I'm afraid you're going to regret what you are as much as Mick does and that would really be awful. One is enough. I don't think you could survive like Mick does. You're probably not going to like this, but your stuff is going to be moved to a storage locker close by and your lease closed out. I'm sorry, but I think this is important enough that there is no compromise."

Josef can feel the anger coming off of her directed right at him.

Softly he adds. "I love you and I don't want to see you end up hating what you are."

Beth takes a swing at him and comes very close to hitting him.

He dodges her and grabs her wrists and holds her tight. "Please stop."

She collapses gently against him. "Josef, what are we going to do? I'm not crazy about the way I've been acting either, but every time I think about you or Mick it just hurts so bad. I love you both so much. I just can't take both of you abandoning me." Josef starts to protest and she holds up her hand. "I know that's not what you're doing, but that's what it feels like and now your taking away my apartment. It wasn't much, but it was mine."

Josef sighs, well it's now or never. "I want you to think about something. When you were human you thought in terms of Mick being with you 'forever' and to a human that means maybe 60 years, if you're lucky, right?"

Beth nods her agreement.

"But baby, it's not like that anymore." He wraps his arms around her. "I'm going to tell you a truth that you might as well learn right now. There is no such thing as forever to a vampire. I hate to say this, but there are damn few vampire relationships that last forever. Nobody can stand anyone that long." He smiles at her. "I think one relationship at a time is enough if only because the idea of two male vampires you love killing each other is fairly painful for all involved, but I don't think you have to make any long term plans with anyone. You just have to end one relationship before you start another."

Beth smiles at him a little sadly. "Already did that."

Josef nods at her. "Are you sure that's what you want? I love you, you know that, but I don't really want you bouncing back and forth between us. Someone is going to get hurt badly if you do that. Beth, I've been really guilty of not listening to you. I've been so busy protecting you that I haven't listened to you tell me what you need. If you must know, I fell in love protecting you and I just never left that place. As for the apartment, you can see I'm still doing it."

Josef shakes his head. "Besides, I thought you wanted to stay here with me? Look if you need a refuge I'll get you another place, but just not that one."

Beth smiles up at him. "I do want to stay with you; that would be very nice."

He smiles back at her.

"But I need something…some place…I can just go…..Josef how long have you lived here?"

He thinks about it. "This house has been here in one form or another for 70 years or so. Why?"

She laughs, "Because you permeate this place. There's no room for me here on a permanent basis. I need a nitch…space of my own…maybe a place to work."

He smiles at her. "Actually I have a very good idea on that very subject, but I need you to trust me. I want to surprise you."

She smiles. "I think I can do that, but you have to trust me and stop trying to protect me all the time. I think that's half of Mick's problem. He can't adjust to who he is in my life anymore."

Josef smiles. "I'm not Mick." He draws her close. "So, everything is taken care of? You're not going to have two very volatile jealous vampires killing each other over you, right?"

Beth smiles at him. "Yea, and I kept a friend to boot."

Josef let out a small sigh. "Good." Josef backs away from her; he takes her hands and looks at her. "I love you so much." Josef brings her hand up to his lips and kisses her palm. "I want you; I want to make love to you." He brings her close and kisses her deeply, their tongues tasting, touching and exploring each other. Josef breaks the kiss. "You know, this is going to be different now."

Beth looks at him not quite understanding what he is trying to tell her. "Different how?"

Josef mentally slaps Mick upside the head. This discussion should have happened a couple months ago. "Well, you'll admit that you're different since the last time you and Mick made love, right?"

"Oh, you mean because I'm a vampire now." She doesn't really want to talk about her relationship with Mick, right now with Josef…

Josef swears he can read her mind. Finally he's getting less confusion from her. "Come here." He takes her hand, and they go sit on the couch. Beth snuggles into his arms. "I don't ever want you to have to second guess what you want or need to say to me." He smiles down at her. "I'm four hundred years old; I'm not going to get mad because you need to say something about Mick and the time you spent together." Josef leans in and kisses and nips at her neck. Beth lets out a small moan. _Mmmm that feels good._

Beth smiles. "I was just thinking that I know what to expect; I've been with a vampire."

Josef shakes his head a little. "It's not the same. Sure you understand the mechanics from Mick's point of view, meaning that you know about biting, but you don't know about it from your perspective. You remember when Mick was always telling you that it was dangerous, and he was afraid he would hurt you?"

She nods.

"Well, there are reasons for that and I just want you to understand. Your sensory abilities are far better than they were before and every new experience good or bad is going to be better or worse than it would have been when you were human. You know how much better all your senses are now. You see more, you hear more, and your sense of touch and being touched is far more sensitive." To punctuate his point he nips at her collarbone and hears her moan. He taps her on the nose and smiles at her. "It's also one of the reasons you're a bit more volatile than you use to be."

Beth smiles devilishly at him. "So what you're telling me is, that besides the biting, it's going to be even better than it was when I was human."

He smirks at her, "That goes without saying, but what I'm trying to tell you is that at first, until you get use to the sensory overload, it's going to be easy to get lost in the whole experience and lose control."

Beth looks a little frightened and Josef starts to kick himself. "Look, I don't want you to be scared, there's no reason." I just want you to understand that vampires are predators and very physical, and some times it's a good thing that we heal so fast. So, if that part of you takes over it's to be expected and don't worry. It's why Mick was afraid he might hurt you when you were human."

She looks at him questioningly "You don't think I could hurt you, right?"

Josef smiles. "No, baby, I don't think you can hurt me."

He leans into her and kisses her softly. A small moan escapes from her and he lets out a possessive growl. Her hands are running across his chest and soon it's a mass of arms touching here, feeling there. He's cupping her ass, holding her as close as he can in this position. He moans and slides down the couch so she's laying on top of him never breaking the kiss, tasting, teasing of things to come. Finally, they break the kiss and he looks up into those beautiful blue eyes. She smiles at him. She can feel him pressing against her in all the right places. She giggles. "You really do want me."

He smiles back at her. "Yes, and if I had any sense in my head, I would have shown you how much a long time ago." He kisses her deeply and uses his strength to stand up from the couch with her in his arms. She has her legs wrapped around his waist. He moves to the edge of the bed and she slides her legs down his body until she's standing, looking up at him.

He grabs the hem of her t-shirt and pulls up and admires her as it slides over her head. He leans in and kisses her deeply as his hands run over her breasts, feeling the nipples harden under his fingers. He dips his head down and traces a nipple with his tongue. She moans and arches her back to meet his mouth. He nips at one nipple with his fangs and moves to the other.

She can feel his breath on her bare skin; his tongue and teeth playing with her nipples and she wants more of him. "Shirt off." He complies and feels jolts of electricity through him as she runs her hands over his skin. He starts kissing his way slowly down her body, kissing, nipping and tasting all of her. He gets to the top of her jeans, and unbuttons them and gently tugs. He slides them easily down and off of her then lays her down on the bed. He starts at her feet and slowly works his way up her legs with his mouth. He nips at the inside of her thigh and she arches to him. "Oh, Josef…. Oh, please…more" He slowly slides a finger inside her and she bucks against his hand. He slips his tongue in too, and licks at her wet center. He slides in a second finger and starts to move them back and forth; tasting and licking her in time with her body's movements. He glances up and watches her eyes as they turn a beautiful shade of crystal blue. Her fangs are extended and she's moaning and withering under his touch. Her body arches one more time and she falls back gasping as she comes.

He gently removes his fingers and moves back up the bed. He lays on his side looking down, grinning as she slowly reclaims her body. She rolls over to face him and gives him a lazy smile. She rolls him over and pulls his jeans down, just the way he did to her. She moves back up and straddles him. Looking down at him she leans in and kisses him. He's running his hands down her back and gently lifts her bottom. She reaches down and grasps him and guides him to her entrance. She slowly lowers herself on to him. She lets out a gasp of pain and pleasure as she slides down his length and he fills her completely.

He feels her muscles so tight against him. He running his hands over her nipples again, and she's arching her breasts to his mouth. She starts to move up the length of him, with agonizing deliberate movements she slowly reaches the top and then thrusts quickly back down. He groans and feels her slam into him. She repeats the movement and this time he thrusts up to meet her. She throws her head back and continues the movement. He grabs her ass to help her and to steady them both as they find a rhythm faster and faster, until he can feel her start to spasm around him. Then he hears her growl "Mine" and her fangs sink into his shoulder. She tastes his blood mixed with his desire and love, and it sends her over the edge. The pleasure hits her in waves. He follows her over the edge as his fangs pierce the skin on her neck, and he hears her growl and moan in ecstasy. Fangs retract and she falls against his chest. They lay there breathing rapidly and waiting for some sense to return to their bodies.

Beth smiles down at him. "My God. I had no idea!"

He smirks at her. "I take it, you might like to do that again?"

She swats at him and giggles. "You keep that up and forever really will be forever. I'll just spend eternity stripping you out of your clothes."

He smiles and lets out a growl. He rolls them both over covering her body with his and starts to lick her neck, his hands running over her cool skin.

Beth gives him a seductive smile. "What was it you said? Lots of fun, happy, sex?

Josef smiles. "Lots."

She feels him nipping at her neck. "Ready again so soon, lover?"

Josef lets out a small growl. "Oh, you'll be surprised at how soon I'm going to be ready and for what."

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Love to hear reactions to this chapter….. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**Chapters like this are actually the reason this story is rated M... :)**

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth looks around the room and smiles. Josef was true to his word. He gave her, her own space and it is wonderful.

A couple weeks after he had promised her the surprise, they had a visitor. The man was tall and very well dressed, but Beth could see that at one time this was a man who had worked hard with his hands. He carried a box with several cardboard tubes sticking out of it. Josef shook the man's hand and introduced him to Beth. "Beth, I want you to meet George Robins; he's an architect. He designed this house." Beth smiled and shook his hand.

George smiled at Beth. "I hear you need some space."

Beth looked at Josef and was a little embarrassed. She didn't want anyone to think she didn't love Josef. George held up his hand. "Listen, I do more of these than you can imagine. Everyone needs a place to work and think, especially if you live with a guy like this."

Josef glowered at him. "He's just mad because I took him to the cleaners at our last poker party."

George laughed. "Yea, and now I can see why you haven't been back."

Josef let out a small growl. "Down boy."

George held up his hand. "No worries. Do you have a place I can lay these out?"

Josef walked over to a large table he had set up with three chairs sitting at it.

George looked at Beth. "Ok, Did Josef tell you anything about this?"

Beth smiled at Josef. "No. He wanted it to be a surprise."

George looked at Josef. "Which one do you want to start with?"

"The main house." Josef answered.

George grabbed a tube marked with an orange stripe. He laid out the plans. "These are the floor plans for this house. Right here is Josef's study, the room we are in now. This is the hallway that leads down to this part of the house." He looked up at her to see if she's following him.

Beth nodded.

George laid down a clear overlay over the top of the plans. "Now see these new lines. We'll knock out this wall and add another small hallway that leads into a room for you to have an office, or whatever you want in it. It will be set up so you can jack in computers or whatever on any wall you want. We'll run a high-speed line in for you and all the jacks for all the electronics you might want to put in there. Josef said you don't mind windows so we'll put them clear across this outside wall if you don't mind giving up the space. Once you put in these windows you've effectively made the wall useless for anything but looking out of them. Of course the windows will all be enhanced with the UV protection that Josef has on the house and downtown building. How's that sound?"

Beth was beaming at Josef. George watched them and smiled. "Fine, I would guess."

George continued, "Now for the big surprise."

Beth looked at Josef a little perplexed. "There's more?"

George smiled. "Much more and for this we need your opinion."

Josef watched her for her reaction. "George and I have gone over several different plans for a small house down by the lake here on the property. You know, like a small summerhouse. We need you to pick one."

Beth got up and she grabbed Josef's hand and drug him out of the room. Before they left she turned to George. "We'll be right back."

George just snorted and started laying plans out on the table.

Beth took Josef into the kitchen. She hugged him tight and looked up at him. "Thank you. I can't believe you thought of all this." She leaned in and kissed him deeply, it didn't take but a minute and Josef knew if they didn't get back in there now, they wouldn't at all. He smiled down at her "Come on. Lets get this over with and then we can go back to the thanking phase of the surprise." Beth hugged him again and they returned to the study.

They went back in and George had a stack of plans laid out on the table. "Josef and I weeded it down to these last six. Now we need you to pick out which one you like best, and I'll get in here and start building."

They spent the rest of the evening pouring over the plans and finally Beth picked out the one that she liked the best, with some modifications. George said it would probably take about six months to get all the work completed. Josef and George shook hands and George left with the promise of getting the right palms greased to get the permits breezed through.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth snorts at the memory and thinks she should do a story on that. City Hall corruption is always good for viewers. Josef, reading her mind, shakes his head and she smiles at him innocently and files the information away for a later examination.

Beth walks over to Josef. "Hey, did I mention that I wanted to thank you for my new space?"

He smirks at her. "You mentioned something about it."

She pushes his suit coat off his shoulders. "Got to get you out of that stuffy suit." She pulls his shirt out of his pants while he's kissing her neck. Beth unbuttons his shirt and pushes it back off his shoulders and it joins his coat on the floor. Beth is running her hands over his strong arms and chest.

Josef smiles at her. He takes the hem of her shirt and pulls it up over her head. He tosses her shirt over his shoulder and her bra soon follows. Both kick off their shoes. Josef tugs at Beth's jeans and they drop smoothly to the floor. He smiles at the sight of her standing in front of him in just her lace panties. He puts a hand on either side of her hips and slowly runs her panties down her legs. He stops now and then to lick and nip at the inside of her thighs. Beth feels like she may just not be able to hold herself up much longer.

Josef slides two fingers inside her and loves the fact that he can make her so wet so fast. Beth starts to wither and buck against his hand as he works it back and forth. Her knees feel like they may buckle as she starts to come. Josef stands back up next to her to give her some support. She catches her breath and smiles at him.

She pulls at his belt and gets to the clasp of his slacks. They drop to the floor and she tugs at the boxers until his hard member is free of them. The boxers float to the floor and Beth kneels in front of him. She smiles up at him and takes him into her mouth. She hears a deep growl from him as she brings more of him into her mouth. Beth looks up at him through her lashes and sees the pleasure on his face. She continues to work him with her mouth, taking as much of him as she can, and rolling her tongue up and over him.

She hears him growl again, and he pulls her up to stand in front of him. "Any of more of that and I'll be done for."

She smiles coyly at him. "We can't have that. Come here." She takes his hand and sits him on the couch then she lowers herself on him coming to rest on her knees with him buried deep inside her. Beth rocks back and forth as Josef licks and nips at her breasts. His hand moves down between them and his fingers slowly rub her nub in small circles while she slides up and back. She starts to move faster and harder as her muscles start to convulse around him. He groans and bucks against her and the two of them start to come together. Josef sinks his fangs into her breast and she throws her head back in ecstasy.

Josef lays back against the couch and smiles at the vision in front of him while they catch their breath. He pulls her against him and both shift their weight and legs get straightened out, so they end up laying facing each other. Beth gives him a lazy smile and snuggles in to his arms. He pulls a blanket down over the top of them and both drift off for a nap.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth didn't wait for her office to be finished, before she went back to work. She thought about doing print, but then wondered if there was a chance she could work as a reporter back at Buzzwire. She decided to go see Mo. "Hey there girl, you get bored yet? Any chance I can get you to come back to work."

Beth smiled. "Actually I was wondering if I could do stories just like I use to, but you could have someone else do them on-line?"

Mo scrunched her nose at her. "Beth, I'd love to have you back, but why don't you want to do the taping? You're a natural… blond and beautiful in California."

Beth shrugged and thought about what she could tell Mo that she'll believe. "I don't know if you know this, but I'm living with Josef Konstan……you remember him from when his building was attacked that time, and Josef is sort of afraid of having me be too visible. He's afraid someone might try to hurt me to get to him."

Mo nodded. "All that money, he's probably right. I didn't know you and Konstan…Wow Beth, some day you'll have to tell me what happened to your P.I." Mo regreted it as soon as it's out of her mouth. The look on Beth's face was so sad.

Beth shrugged. "Just didn't work out. Anyway, I can't really blame Josef for worrying so I told him I wouldn't be visible."

Mo waved her hand dismissively. "Well, this is LA I won't have any trouble finding a girl to read the words. I'd love to have you back. It's so hard to find anyone that really is as good at investigative journalism like you are. You never give up, and you're smart. It's more than worth it to have to hire a talking head for your work."

Beth hugged Mo. "Thanks. I'll start back tomorrow. I've got several things on my mind that I want to start checking on for stories."

Beth headed to Josef's office to tell him the good news. She walked into his office and he snapped his fingers and everyone left. He didn't really even have to do that. They all know when Beth shows up that everything pretty much comes to a standstill. Beth walked across and kissed Josef. "Hey, I have a job. I'm going back to Buzzwire."

Josef frowned a little before he could stop himself. "Are you going to be taping again?"

Beth hugged him. "No, I couldn't really think what to tell Mo so I just told her you asked me not to, so that I wouldn't be so visible because you were afraid someone would try and use me to get to you. You don't mind that I said that do you?"

"Well, it's not really too far from the truth. Besides the vamp stuff, I would rather you stayed under the radar. I've made more than a few enemies over the years. You don't mind not taping do you?"

Beth shrugged. "I suppose a little, but I knew before you turned me that I was going to have to give that up, and actually I don't think I mind as much as I thought I would. If I weren't a vamp I'd have to give it up in a couple years anyway. I wouldn't be pretty enough or blond enough." Beth smiled. "Mo did say that she could get any pretty girl to read what I wrote. The hard part was finding someone who had good investigative instincts and could write a story. That made me happy."

Josef smiled at her obvious pride in the compliment. "You know she's right. It's hard to find smart people with good instincts. You remember what I told you. If you ever want to give up the journalism, I've always got a job for you. So, what are you going to do your first story on?"

Beth tilted her head. "I've got several ideas I want to start working on. There is some really bad gang activity going on downtown, and also I hear that there is more smuggling going on across the boarder."

Josef scowled at her. "Do you think maybe I could get you to take a bodyguard with you?"

Beth held up her hand. "Don't even start. I'll be fine. It's not like it was before when I needed someone to watch over me. I'm not human anymore. I'll be just fine."

Josef sighed. "Is there anyway I could get you to please even consider it?"

Beth thought about it for a minute. "I'll tell you what, if I think I'm going into a particularly bad part of town or where I think there will be a high concentration of dangerous characters, I'll take one of the security guys with me, but the rest of the time I'm on my own. How's that?"

In truth, it was more than he thought he would get so he takes it, with hope he can talk her into more protection later. He smiled at her. "That's a start." And before she could say anymore he held up his hand. "Baby, I love you and I want you safe. I'll take what I can get." He reached across to her and pulled her into his arms and kissed her like he never wanted to let her go. Beth let out a small moan. Josef started to run his hands up her backside and Beth broke the kiss. She smiled at him. "I love you Josef, but if I stay here you're going to try and boost me up on the desk and take me right here."

Josef leered at her. "Would that be so bad?"

Beth laughed. "Not so bad, but not really something I'm comfortable with since your entire staff is in the next room and they all have vamp hearing." Beth laughed, "I'll race you home if you want."

Josef's phone rang and he glanced down at the call. Josef sighed. "Sorry, babe. I've still got things to do here. But if you want to stay…. "

Beth kissed him and walked towards the door. "I'll see you at home." She said with a smile and left.

Josef answered the phone. "Jenny?"

"Hey, Josef. How's my favorite competition? Although it seems like you're not so busy trying to get all my girls any more, why is that?"

Josef didn't say anything. "Oh, yea, that's right. That little blond vamp that used to belong to Mick is now living with you. Refresh my memory, Josef, isn't she the same one that got Mick off the tap?"

"Jenny, did you call just to bust me about Mick and Beth, or is there a reason for all of this?"

Jenny sighed, "Just thought you'd like to know, he's in New York and he's back on tap again. So far he hasn't gone off the deep end. He's just working his way through the local female population at an amazing rate."

Josef snorted, but didn't comment.

"Shit, Josef, if you were going to take his woman the least you could do is keep track enough to know how he's doing."

"I am Jenny. I am. How do you come by all this information? Oh, wait, if he's back on tap you're hearing it through the freshies. You must be doing exchanges with someone in New York. Mick always did make them very happy to donate. It's one of the reasons I never imagined he could give it up. The girl's reaction shows how much he really does like it. Jenny, I've got people watching him, just not close enough to know his every move. They'll just intervene if he starts to get weird and, for Mick, this is not weird behavior in the least. It's classic Mick pre-Beth. He'll nail anything female, trying to burn her out of his head, well not anything. If I know Mick there are no blonds."

Josef paused. He doesn't really need to explain himself, but this pisses him off. "Oh, and Jenny, just for the record, he left Beth and not because of me. She's a vamp now, her choice. You know his issues. You figure it out." And he hung up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Then one day Josef got a call from Dave, his security chief at the house. "I think you better watch Buzzwire's latest."

Josef sighed. "What's she done now?"

"Josef, I'm only concerned for keeping her alive, it's part of my job description, but she's going after one of the local high powered drug gangs. It used to be run by Tajhada. It went to his son-in-law after St. John took Tajada out. I'm worried. These guys don't mess around. I know she's not on camera but it won't be hard for them to find out who's doing the investigating."

"Thanks Dave. I'll see if I can reign her in but you can guess just how effective that's going to be." _Damn woman is going to be the death of me yet._

That was three months ago…….and her reporting had put several of the top men in the organization in jail but not the guy she really wanted in jail, not Castillo. He was the new head of the operation since his father in law had been killed. Beth decided to let things cool off with the drug gangs and went on to other stuff. Her contacts were all scared to talk. She could always come back to these guys later when everything isn't so hot.

Beth does her very best to not think of Mick, her guardian angle, and her friend. She amends that, their friend. She knows that Josef misses Mick too. It was times like this when she misses him the most. She tells herself he would understand. He might not like it but he would understand. She smiles ruefully to herself. Josef, not so much. He knows he can't stop her, but he gives it his best shot. Sometimes at night she looks up at the stars, tries not to cry and makes a wish that wherever Mick is he is as happy as she is. Despite everything, she loves Josef with all her heart and she is happy.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Six months later, Beth is just putting the finishing touches on furnishing her little cabin down by the lake. George's crew managed to get done in less than the six months he expected. She wishes Josef would come home to enjoy the night with her. It is a beautiful full moon. The light of the moon shining off the lake is amazing. Beth hears someone drive up to the little house and she peaks out. It is a big black truck with a trailer behind it. Beth goes out on the porch. She sees Josef get out on the passenger's side and a burly man dressed in ranchers clothes gets out on the drivers side. "Josef?"

The man smiles at her and then looks back at Josef.

"Beth, this is Mark Hudson. He manages a ranch I own down in New Mexico."

"Ma'am" he says and tips his hat to her.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Hudson. But I don't understand."

Mr. Hudson turns to Josef, "You didn't tell her?"

Josef smiles. "No, it's too much fun to watch her face when I surprise her."

Beth smiles at Josef a little leery. "Josef, what did you do now?"

Josef turns to Mr. Hudson. "Show her Mark."

Mark goes to the back of the trailer and drops the tailgate. He gets in and backs out the most beautiful midnight black horse Beth has ever seen.

Beth looks at Josef wonderingly. "For me?" Is all that she can say.

Softly he says, "Yes, baby, for you."

"But I thought…I mean..."

Josef realizes her confusion. "Mark knows what we are and the horse has been trained to not be frightened of vamps. A lot of horses will instinctively freak out around a vampire, even one that isn't showing any signs. They are smart, they can feel the predator, but Mark trains a few horses every year that are vamp friendly."

Beth jumps down off the porch and runs to Josef. "Oh, thank you. This is wonderful. I love to ride. How did you know?"

"I remembered a picture I saw of you when you were a teenager. You were riding a horse. I was betting it was something you'd like to do again."

Beth knows which picture he is talking about. She had seen it in Mick's file from when he was looking after her.

She gives Josef a big hug. "But what are we going to keep…him?" Beth looks at Mark "him?"

"Yes, ma'am, him and his given name is long and written on his papers, but we've always just called him Smoky."

Beth turns to Josef. "I like that. Can we keep him here?"

Josef smiles. "Yes, George will take care of him for the next couple days. I have a crew coming in tomorrow and they are going to put up a corral and a small pole barn over there for him. I've also got some hay and feed being trucked in. Mark can help you pick out a saddle any another tack you need.

Beth laughs and then gives him a small smile. "hhhmmm a barn…with hay…"

Josef shakes his head at her. "You're incorrigible."

Beth laughs. "Hey, that's my line."

Mark leaves with the horse with a promise to be back in a couple days. He has an agreement with a local vet that will help him with the boarding until accommodations are made for the horse.

Beth sits down on the top step of the porch, and Josef comes over and sits next to her. He puts his arm around her and they look out over the lake under the full moon. Josef turns to kiss Beth, and as he turns his head he sees a glint in the trees from across the lake. Instinctively he grabs Beth and rolls across the porch stopping in the shadows with his body covering hers. Then they hear the shot as the bullet crashes through the glass of the front door.

Josef silently slides off the side of the porch taking Beth with him. They skirt the side of the house and come to rest behind the house. Josef flips open his phone and growls into the phone. "Beth and I are down at the cabin, we were just shot at from the other side of the lake. Get your ass over there now and see what you can find."

Josef turns to Beth "I think we walk back and stay in the shadows of the woods. Without checking the vehicles, I don't even want to get in one."

Beth grabs Josef. "How… how did you know?"

Josef smiles in the dark at her. "Glint of the scope caught my eye when I went to kiss you. Good thing there is a full moon."

Beth shakes her head. "Full moon nothing, good thing you like to kiss me."

Josef takes her hand and leads her into the darkness and back to the house.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**I appreciate the reviews. Makes it worth writing to think someone is still reading.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick gets out of the bed and stares down at the sleeping redhead. He's in a hotel room in New York trying to not think about what he gave up without a fight. He tries to remember this one's name, Vicky…Debbie. He shakes his head at the change in him in the last six months, back to square one. Just another 'Not Beth' he thinks.

When he'd relocated to New York it didn't take long for the local female vamp population to find out he was single. He wasn't having any trouble finding company. He'd gone through redheads and brunettes like a starving man in an all-you-can-eat buffet. Hell he'd even tried a couple with pink hair and one with purple locks. Curiously enough, no blonds, not a one. Not so curious, though, if you knew his history with one particular blond. A blond might make him face his stupidity, and maybe do something about it, and he wasn't ready for that.

Mick snorts. Josef would be so proud. Mick is back on the tap again. Why is it the only time he ever drinks direct is when he doesn't give a shit about his life?

Between the freshies and the vamps in the local clubs he is never alone. He had hoped at first that it would make it easier, but it hasn't. He misses her so much. Hell, he misses them both. Josef is his best friend, and they have been through a lot in the last fifty years. Mick needs to find a way to get past this so he can go back and not have his heart torn apart, living in the same city without Beth by his side and knowing she's living with his best friend.

Debbie/Vicky rolls over and reaches for him in the bed and sits up when she finds him gone. "Hey, come back to bed." She smiles at him. "I'll make it worth your while." He stands there for a minute trying to decide what he's going to do about her when his phone rings. He tries to ignore it, but a minute after it stops it starts right back up and he decides he better take a look. He looks down; it is Josef. "Shit." He knows Josef wouldn't call unless it was an emergency. He flips the phone open and answers. "Can I call you back in ten?"

"Yes." And the phone goes dead.

Mick looks at the girl. "Look I don't mean to be rude, but I really need you out of here. That call was from someone who would only call if it were an emergency. I have a hunch I'm going to be packing and on the next flight out. The girl looks at him and rolls her eyes. "Yea, sure. Whatever." Mick tosses her cab fare. She gets dressed and reluctantly leaves.

Mick stares down at the phone. What is he going to do? He knows he has to call back to make sure that Beth is ok, but going back might be tough. He doesn't know if he can do it and not want her back, and that would cost him his friendship with Josef. Finally, he sighs and punches up Josef's number.

"What's happened?"

Josef pauses, again wondering; if this is a good idea, but not knowing what else to do. "Somebody took a shot at Beth and I."

Mick thinks about it for a minute. "I've seen her stuff on Buzzwire. She may not be doing the on-line stuff, but it's unmistakable Beth. Could you tell if they were shooting at you or her?"

"No idea. I wish I knew. Look Mick, you don't have to come back or anything, I just wondered if you have any suggestions as to who I might call locally to look into this that would do a thorough job. My security guys aren't really up to this kind of investigation, and for obvious reasons I can't go to the cops." _You're supposed to be here to do this._

Suddenly, Mick knows he has to go back. If it means learning to live with life without her in LA, then so be it. He misses them both too much to keep running. Random redheads and brunettes aren't cutting it. "Josef, do you have a plane stationed in New York still?"

"Yea."

"Call and tell them they've got a passenger. I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Mick, are you sure?"

"Yea, Josef, it'll be ok. I miss you both too much to keep this up. It's time to come home."

Josef smiles. "Good. It hasn't been the same since you left."

Josef hangs up and turns to see Beth standing in the doorway. "Mick's coming back to LA. I'm going to call the flight crew in New York, and they are going to fly him back."

Beth smiles. "It will be nice to have him back here." Beth can sense Josef's hesitation mixed with his happiness at his friends return. Beth walks across the room and puts her arms around Josef. "Don't worry about…..anything. I can't imagine how I could be happier. I'm not going anywhere."

Josef smiles at her. "You know me so well." He cups her face in his hands and kisses her.

She smiles at him "Because I love you so much."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick gets off the plane and starts to walk through the terminal. He stops and looks around. He smells vampires. He turns around and there are Beth and Josef waiting for him. Mick walks up to them and a smiling Beth gives him a small hug and Josef shakes his hand. "We thought you might like a ride home."

Mick smiles at them, "That sounds like a great idea. I can't believe you guys came to meet me. Josef, you hate this place."

"Yea, and that's why my car is just right out this door. No waiting."

They go out to the waiting limo and Mick laughs. "Josef, the limo?"

Josef scowls at Beth. "It gets so little use these days I might as well lay my driver off. Beth won't ride in it unless it's a special event." Beth interrupts. "Like a good friend's homecoming." Josef continues. "So the poor thing sits and sits."

Beth laughs. "Josef there are some things you are not going to be able to change about me. I will not ride in the limo to go shopping. It's dumb."

"She won't even let me buy her a decent car."

"I did so. You bought me what I wanted. Not some luxury car that is going to be a pain to park."

Mick laughed. "Let me guess. She made you buy her a Prius or one of the other hybrids."

Beth smiles and nods at him.

Mick and Beth can hear Josef grumbling about Beth's blue-collar upbringing and practicality.

Beth just laughs at him. "And don't you forget it. You may want to play lord of the manner and impress the peasants, but this isn't old Europe. If you want to do that, get back on the boat."

Josef growls at her playfully. "Woman, you are screwing up my image and my reputation."

Mick watches them and smiles. This is a very happy Beth, and a Josef that Mick doesn't think he's ever seen. So relaxed and happy…. even with the trouble he called about. Mick relaxes; he tells himself that it might not be so tough living here again. They are so happy, how can he not be happy for them? Mick is brought out of his thoughts hearing his name. He looks at Josef. "Hope you don't mind, but I got your cleaning lady in and we went over to turn on your freezer and load your fridge; that is unless you're back on tap."

Mick looks at Josef and realizes Josef knows he is. He's not sure how Josef knows, but he does. Mick shrugs. "As a matter of fact."

Josef smiles. "I thought so. You look better than you have in a long time. Well, you've got spare in the fridge if you need it. If it's ok, we'll drop you off and you can come to the office tomorrow and we'll get down to this business and see if we can figure out what's going on. I imagine the jet lag is going to hit pretty soon."

Mick nods. "That sounds good, except I'd rather come out to the house if that's where it happened. It would help if I could see what you're talking about, maybe talk to the security people."

Josef nods. "That's fine. See you sometime after twilight."

Mick walks around his apartment. It's nice to be back. He missed his vinyl collection and his stereo system. He had sent all Beth's stuff back to her before he left, but he'd kept a couple pictures that were taken when they were together and he still had all the ones from when she was human. He scoops them all up and puts them in back in their file and puts them back in the filing cabinet, except one. He takes one framed picture of her and puts it face down on his desk in his office. He tells himself it is time to move on. At least being gone the last six months, her smell has worn off the apartment.

Mick sits down and starts to make a few phone calls. No point in waiting. First he calls The Cleaner, "Hey, it's Mick."

"St. John. Are you back in town for good?"

"Yea, I think so. Look, you have as many contacts as I do. Can you discreetly ask around and see if you can find out if anyone took a hit out on Josef or Beth?"

He hears her whistle. "Someone tried to kill Josef?"

"Well, I haven't had a chance to go over the details with him yet but it sounds like they were together, so it could have been either of them. See if you can find out anything, would you?"

"No problem. I see if anyone knows anything."

Mick starts calling some of his old contacts to see if anyone's heard anything. The jet lag finally starts to set in, and he heads upstairs to his freezer. He smiles when he sees it, much better than an ice bath in a hotel.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick drives out to Josef's the next evening and sees all the new construction at the house; the window he threw Denton through has finally been replaced. Also, he notices a new room has been added. Mick smiles. The house is huge but Josef added another room, had to be for Beth. Mick gets out, goes up and knocks. Before he'd left town he wouldn't have bothered, but now it seems like something he should do until everybody is settled with him being back. Robert answers the door and shakes Mick's hand. "Nice to see you again. Josef is in his study and Beth is in her office which is the new room you probably noticed when you drove up."

Mick wonders down the hallway and peaks into Beth's office. She's sitting at a beautiful antique desk, taking notes and clicking away at her laptop. She looks up. "Hey, how do you like my office?"

Mick looks around. It's very Beth in its decoration, but there are subtle things like the desk that are Josef's touches, old and new. "It's very nice. Josef had it added on for you?"

"Yea, I sort hit the roof when he closed out my apartment, so he surprised me with the plans for this and the cabin."

Mick arched an eyebrow at her. "Oh, you'll see it in a bit. That's where we were shot at. Josef made me promise not to go back until we know what's going on." Mick hears the sadness in her voice and looks up at her. She turns back to him and smiles. "You know, it's nice to have you back home. We missed you. Come on, let's go get Josef."

They walk down the hall and Josef is at his desk talking on the phone. Beth walks over and sits on the couch and Mick sits in the chair facing Josef. Josef ends his call and looks up at Mick. "So, how do you like the addition?"

"It looks nice. Did George do the work on this as well?"

"Of course. Might as well get the original architect, especially since he's part of the clan."

Josef sighs. "Well, lets get this over with."

The three of them get up and start for the door. Josef stops and looks at Beth. "Please."

"Damn it, Josef. No. That's my place down there. You let me pick out the floor plans, I picked out the furnishings, and my horse is going to have a corral down there. I will not let you or them drive me away from the best gift anybody has ever given me."

Josef shakes his head at her and turns to Mick. "How do you argue with that?"

Josef turns back to Beth. "If either of us tells you to get down or get out of sight or anything you do it, ok?"

Beth nods. "Yes, that's fine. Just don't tell me I can't go down there with you. I agreed to stay away on my own, for now, but I'm not going to stay here while you go down."

Mick thinks this is just like all the 'stay in the car' moments he had with her. He smiles. Some things never change.

They get in the eep and drive down. Josef parks behind the cabin and they get out. Mick looks the area over. They walk to the front of the cabin where Mick sees the shattered door. He turns to Josef. "So tell me what time it was and what happened."

"It was around midnight. There was a full moon. Mark Hudson was here to show Beth the horse I bought her. He left and we were sitting on the steps there. I turned to Beth and as I turned I caught a glimpse of light in the trees across the lake. All I could think of was a night scope, so I grabbed Beth and we rolled over to the shadows and then a bullet came crashing through the door. We went down the side of the porch and I called the security guys and we stayed in the shadows as we walked home."

Mick looks at the ruined door and thinks how lucky they were. There's a theory that even a vamp can be killed if you get them dead center between the eyes. He's glad it didn't get tested out here. "Ok, let's go back up. You can fill me in on the rest back at the house."

Beth turns to them. "Wait. Can I go into the house for a minute?"

Mick shrugs. "I don't see why not. Josef?"

"Beth, I'll get them. You stay out here." He knows exactly what she wants. Josef uses his speed to zip in and out. He hands Beth the pictures he took off her desk. "Here you go babe." He hands her the pictures.

"Thank you. Ok, I'm ready."

They head to the Jeep. Mick sees that the pictures when she lays them on the seat next to her. One is of her and Josef taken not long ago, and one was of the three of them just before she was turned. Mick's gets a lump in his throat when he remembers back to that time, but pushes the feelings away.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef calls Dave, the head of his security, and has him meet them at the house so Mick can talk to him about the other side of the lake.

Once everyone is settled in Josef's study; Mick turns to Dave, "Ok, now I need you to tell me exactly what happened."

Dave took a deep breath. "I got a call from Mr. Konstan at 12:15 and he said that someone had shot at him and Ms. Turner, from the other side of the lake. He told me to get over there. One of the men that works for me was a crime scene investigator for the LAPD until he was turned, so I took him and a few others and we high tailed it over there."

Mick interrupts. "What's the road like in and out of there and does it run all the way around the lake?"

"I brought a map." Dave spread the map out on Josef's desk. He points out the road going around the lake. "We came in here, but truthfully there are any of number of places they could have gone out in the opposite direction and we would have never seen them."

He traces the routes with his finger to show Mick.

"When we got in there we could see where there had been something parked that had big tire tread. We searched the entire area, no cigarette buttes, scraps of paper, nothing. I smelled a human, but no vamps."

Dave folds the map back up and sits down. Josef and Mick stare across at each other. Mick breaks the silence. "You can take off. If I think of anything else, I'll get in touch with Josef." Dave nods and leaves.

Mick and Josef both get up and start to pace. Beth just rolls her eyes and snickers at them. Mick looks at them. "There hasn't been any thing else happen that you can remember that seemed odd at the time, but maybe now seems like it might have been something else? No other incidents?"

Josef snorts. "Nothing I can think of."

Mick looks at Beth and narrows his eyes at her. She's looking at something very interesting on her pant leg. Mick looks at Josef who now has the same look on his face. Josef walks around his desk and crouches next to Beth's chair. He reaches out and takes her hand. "Ok, what is it?"

She looks at him. "You know, it didn't seem like much at the time….um…you won't get mad?"

"Beth" Josef gently growls at her. "I will try and hold my temper, but you know how I get with you security."

Beth takes a deep breath. "You know when they were adding the room on to the house?"

Josef nods.

"Well, There was that really tall stack of bricks that fell."

"Yes?"

"Well, I was right next to it, and it almost fell on me. One of the laborers saw what was happening and pushed me out of the way."

Josef closes his eyes and reigns in his temper. "And I'm hearing about this only now because?"

"Josef, I really thought it was an accident, I still do, and I really didn't belong where I was. I just wanted to see what they were doing. The foreman was terrified you would hold him responsible, and he would lose his job. He has a family to feed. So, I told him it was fine and I wouldn't say anything."

Josef hangs his head for a minute and then looks at her again. "Anything else?"

"Uh….a couple of weeks ago my breaks failed. I just thought it was just a malfunction. I had the car towed to the garage and had it fixed. You had gone to New York for a couple of days, and when you got back it didn't seem all that important."

Josef is slowly shaking his head. "There's more isn't there?"

Beth smiles at him sheepishly. "One more little thing. Last week I was run off the road. I thought it was just a drunk."

Josef stands up and turns to Mick who can almost see the emotions coming off of Josef. "Ah, Mick do you think you could give us a minute?"

"Sure, but I need details before I leave."

"Not a problem. Go see the girls and I'll come get you in a few minutes."

Mick leaves the two of them and heads off to see the girls.

Josef goes back to Beth and takes her hand and pulls her up into a hug and kisses her. He can feel her tears running down her face and mixing with the kiss. He leans back and wipes the tears away. "It's ok. I'm not mad. I'm just very scared that something could happen to you, and I couldn't prevent it because you aren't telling me about stuff like this."

Beth nods.

"I know you don't think much about the money and power, but there are a lot of people out there who would hurt you to get to me. In addition, you have a tendency to piss off a lot of very bad people on your own. I haven't said anything about the Buzzwire stuff, but in order for all this to work you have let me help keep you safe. Can you do that?"

Beth nods. "Josef, I'm sorry. I really thought they were just random things."

"Beth, in the position we have both put ourselves in, we can't take any chances that it's random. I would rather have it checked out and find out it's random than find out later it was something coming at us."

Beth sighs, "Alright. Josef, I love you."

He hugs her tight again. "I love you too." Josef kisses the end of her nose.

Mick heads down to the girl's wing of the house. Emily sees him first. "Hey, Mick." She jumps up and comes over and gives him a hug, "Nice to see you again." Emily smiles at him shyly, "You're back on tap, aren't you?"

Mick smiles and shakes his head. "What, am I wearing a sign?"

"Naw, but it shows. You look better, healthy for a vamp. You want something to eat?"

"Sure. In a minute, tell me how you are."

Emily smiles. "Same as always." She waves her arm around the room. "How does it get much better than this? You know Josef; he always takes great care of us. I was sort of worried when Beth moved in, but she's nice. We all like her a lot." She catches a sad smile on Mick's face before he can push it down. Emily puts her hand on Mick's arm. "If it's any consolation, they are both really happy. I've never seen Josef like this and Beth is one of the nicest vamps I've ever known."

Emily watches as the sadness seems to magically disappear and Mick takes her hand and walks over to the couch with her. She holds out her arm to him, and he gently sinks his fangs into the vein she presents to him.

Emily watches Mick and one small tear runs down her cheek. She thinks that she'd rather feel Denton's kind of pain than the hurt and sadness and sense of loss Mick is carrying around; she wonders if he even realizes it. She sees Josef come in, and she smiles. Josef cocks his head at her and as practiced as she thinks she is, he notices that something is off. Mick lets her go, and smiles at her. She looks at the smile and wonders at how skilled he is at not letting on how he feels. You would never know from the look on his face how bad he's hurting inside. Emily decides she isn't going to be the one to give him away. So she follows suit and smiles at Josef to hide Mick's pain.

Josef watches Emily before she realizes he's there. He can tell from the look on her face that something not quite right. Once she sees him it's gone, but he can still tell. He'll have to think about whether to ask her about it later.

Josef turns to Mick. "You ready or was Em just a warm up?"

Mick looks at Josef ruefully. "You're just loving this aren't you?"

"Hey, come on, it's good for you. Beth's back in her office trying to remember everything she can about each incident."

"Josef, I hope you made her understand that, between the two of you, you could probably piss off most of the bad elements of one community or the other, and that not much in life is random."

Josef smiles. "You pretty much took the words out of my mouth."

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Love to read reviews….. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick sits in his office making notes on all the things he learned, from Beth about her random accidents. He was also going back over her investigation on Tajada's old gang a few months ago.

His phone rings. He looks down and it's The Cleaner. "Hey"

"St. John. I couldn't find anyone who knew anything about a contract on Josef or Blondie."

Mick squints. "You sure?"

She snorts. "You know how these things are, I can't get absolute confirmation. Maybe someone is threatening Josef and Blondie to get you back to LA so they can hit you?"

Mick hears something in her voice that he can't identify. "Victoria what's the deal with you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Come on, what's the deal with you and Beth? You act like she's still human. I can hear the contempt in your voice. Did you two have a run in?"

She sighs. "No, look it's none of my business…I just…. Shit, you leave town and she's with Josef? I don't like woman who make messes of everything around them."

Softly he says, "It wasn't her fault. I blew it, and practically handed her to Josef. He's her sire; you know what that's like. Even if he wasn't already in love with her, he wasn't going to let me mess her head up anymore. Believe me she's the last one at fault in this. You have no idea how badly I screwed up."

"If you say so, but I know how much she meant to you…Look, I'm glad you're back. Hey, maybe one of these nights we can go have a drink."

Mick smiles. "Yea, but first I have to find out what's going on. You may not want to sit next to me until I do."

She laughs "Oh, I don't know. Might make for an interesting night." She hangs up.

Next Mick calls Josef. "Hey, I need George's number. I need to find out everyone who was on that crew and see how closely he does background on his laborers and the like. I'm also going to have to talk to that foreman that Beth spoke to about the accident."

Josef gives Mick the number. "Anything interesting crop up yet?"

Mick sighs. "Not much but I'll let you know when I have more information" They hang up.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick calls George. "George, it's Mick."

"Hey, Mick. You back in LA?"

"Yea, Look George there has been some trouble at Josef's, and I'm looking into it."

"I hope everyone is ok."

"Yea, but I need to get to the bottom of it before someone gets hurt. I was wondering how closely you do background on your crew."

"Real close on the foreman and anybody who is qualified to do more than swing a hammer. Mostly though, I check on if they are reliable and don't cut corners, not so much on their personal lives. I just don't want my houses and buildings falling down. I don't really care what they do on their off time and as for the laborers not at all. A lot of guys in this business are young and raising a lot of hell. I don't really need to know about it as long as they show up and do their job"

"Mick if anyone on my crew had anything to do with something bad at Josef's could you give me a heads up before you tell Josef? If he's going to be pissed at me, I need to know about it and try and gauge how bad the blowback is going to be. Does this have to do in anyway with Beth?"

"It could, why?"

"Shit. If it has to do with her, you have to give me a heads up. Josef will be out for blood."

"No problem George. Can you give me the name of the guy who was foreman on that job at Josef's?"

"Sure Mick. Hold on while I look it up. I've got him on a job tonight. I'll put the fear of God into him if you want."

"No, just tell him to expect me and to co-operate."

George gives him the information and they hang up.

Mick looks down at his watch. The garage that Beth took her car to opens in just a few minutes. He heads out to see what the garage owner has to say. Luckily, Beth had called Jack, Josef's maintenance guy to ask him where to take it and he had told her which garage to take it to and it was owned and operated by a vamp. Mick had called him last night and told him he was working for Josef. As soon as he mentioned Josef, the man was more than willing to do what ever he could.

Mick walks in and introduces himself. The man is more than a little nervous. That is also a reaction to using Josef's name. "I just needed to ask you a couple of questions about a car you worked on a couple of weeks ago."

"I don't remember us getting one of Mr. Konstan's cars. Usually if Jack is going to send one over we set it up through him."

"Well, this one isn't registered to Mr. Konstan. It's registered to his girlfriend." The words stick in Mick's throat, but only for a second. "She called Jack and he told her to have it towed here. Her name is Beth Turner. She's a pretty blond vamp. Drives a Prius."

The man's eyes are big. "There isn't something wrong with the car that we fixed is there? She didn't have a wreck or anything?"

"No, nothing like that. I just need to know if the car was tampered with before she got it to you."

The man visibly relaxes. "Do you have the license number? I can look it up on my computer."

Mick gives him the number. License number is MYSTRY.

"Here it is. She said her brakes failed."

"Any chance I can talk to the guy who worked on it?"

"Sure. He's right over here."

They walk across the garage to a human who leaning over a restored Impala from the 60's. "Cal, I need you to talk to this man for a minute. He's investigating a car that may have been tampered with before we got it."

Mick shakes the man's hand and introduces himself. "A woman brought in a new Prius a couple of weeks ago. Prius is dark blue the woman is a pretty blond."

The man thinks about it for a minute. "Oh, yea, the Buzzwire lady. I remember when she was doing the newscasts. Man she's hot."

The owner gives him a shot with his elbow and Mick just smiles. Cal looks at the owner funny, shrugs and continues. "What did you want to know?"

"Was there any chance the breaks were tampered with?"

"I suppose it's always a possibility, but this didn't look like anything out of the ordinary. It wasn't an actual mechanical problem like you'd find on say this chevY. You know, the new ones are computerized to the max, and every once and a while one of the sending units is bad and goes out before they are supposed to, and you get a failure. Actually I suspect that the light had been on, warning her of a problem for a while before failure and she ignored it and then it just went. I replaced the unit and it was as good as new. Hardly took any time at all."

Mick nods at him. "Thanks. That's what I needed to know. You've been a big help."

The owner follows Mick to the door. "You'll tell Mr. Konstan that we were helpful? I'd hate to lose his business. We'd do anything for him and , to tell you the truth, it would kill me to lose him as a customer. He has so many cars in such an interesting variety. It's nice to work on cars someone obviously appreciates."

"No problem. I'll make sure he knows you were very helpful."

Mick heads home for his freezer and thinks that whoever is doing this doesn't have a very solid organization. He's been back twenty-four hours and there have been no attempts on him, if he's the target as Victoria suggested. Although that's bad, if they were going after him he would rather they know he's around, so they don't try for Beth and Josef again.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Josef gets up and sees that Beth is still asleep. He gets dressed and heads down to see Emily. He needs to know how bad Mick is. He can read Mick pretty well, but he also knows how good he is at hiding how he is really feeling. Josef sees Emily over by the pool sitting in the late afternoon sun. Josef approaches her. "Emily?"

She gives him her brightest smile. He can feel her heart rate pickup. _She knows what I'm here about and is nervous_. He doesn't like doing this, but he needs to know. He feels like he's putting her in a bad position and hates it. "Hi, Josef. Little early. Sorry, let me get up."

Josef puts his hand on her arm to stop her and sits down next to her. "Emily, I need to know how bad he's hurting. I know you could feel it yesterday when Mick was feeding. Is he really bad?"

Emily starts to silently cry. _Shit,_ this is not good. She's still feeling the residual effects from yesterday. "Josef, it's not like I don't want to help you. You've always been good to me. I just think it's not really my place…you know, I mean, he trusted me."

"I know, Em, but I can't help him if I don't know how bad he is and you saw yesterday how good he is at covering. Despite everything he is always going to be my friend."

Emily sighs. "He's so good at pretending nothing is wrong. I don't think he even realizes it. He's been pushing down his feelings for so long. I mean the sadness is just heartbreaking. I can still feel it today."

Josef nods. "Just as I thought. Do me a favor. If Beth wants to feed from you today, tell her that you're a little under the weather, we don't want her getting any echoes from Mick."

Emily nods and thinks that won't be a lie.

Josef continues. "Please don't mention Mick to her. She doesn't need to feel bad too. Mick and I are enough."

Emily nods and goes back to her sunbathing. Josef goes over to one of the other girls and has breakfast.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth wonders into Josef's study. She walks over and gives him a kiss. "Did you know Emily isn't feeling well?"

"Yes, probably just a twenty four hour bug. I'm sure she'll be fine. Are you going some where?"

"Yea, I'm going into give a story I have to Mo and do some stuff at the office."

Josef braces himself. "Please take Dave or one of his guys with you. Let them drive. Better yet, email Mo the story."

"No!" is all she says and walks out of the room.

Josef sighs and waits for her return.

Beth goes to grab her keys out of her purse and they are gone. He took her keys. She smiles and gives a small laugh. She goes to her desk and grabs the second pair she had made after she locked herself out. He doesn't know about those. She grabs them and heads to the car.

Josef hears the car and sits patiently for her return. She should know by now that he tries to cover all his bases. He was afraid she had a second set, so he had Jack disable her car and lock up all the keys to the rest of the cars.

Beth stalks back into the room, and he can tell she would like to stake him. "Josef, you tell Jack to fix whatever you had him do to my car."

He shakes his head. "No."

She starts to pick up random things from around the room and starts throwing them at him. She's got a hell of an arm he thinks. She picks up one of his favorite crystal decanters. "Not the crystal!" He yells at her.

She stops and looks at it. Narrows her eyes at him and throws it straight at his head. "Fix my car." She says as he plucks the decanter out of the air as it sails close to his head.

He walks across the room ducking flying objects and grabs both her wrists. "Damn it, Beth. Stop it."

"No. When I was human I had Mick dogging my tracks so I would stay safe. Hell, he did it for over twenty years. Now I'm a vampire, who I might add, he taught to defend herself, and I still can't catch a break with you guys. What the hell gives you the right to keep trying to tell me what I can do? I can take care of myself."

Josef narrows his eyes at her. "You know what gives me the right? You really want to know? Because damn it, I love you and it would kill me if something happened to you. Yesterday you said you would help me keep you safe."

"I did not agree to another babysitter. I said I would tell you when stuff happened. Josef I love you too, but you have to let me breathe."

Josef's phone rings. He looks down and sees its Mick. "Hey, let me talk to Mick. Maybe he has some good news."

Beth turns to stalk out of the room and she hears Josef yell at her that he gave Jack the rest of the day off so she can't harass him, and to behave herself until he gets off the phone. Unfortunately he had flipped the phone open so Mick got to hear all of that. "Mick?"

Mick smiles, "Trouble Josef?"

Josef snarls at him. "That woman is going to drive me crazy. We had a disagreement about her taking along Dave or one of the guys while she was out. She wasn't happy to say the least."

Josef hears Mick snickering through the phone and, despite himself, smiles. "You know that crystal decanter I'm so fond of? She threw the damn thing at me. I caught it, but she's really mad."

"Josef you have to remember she's bound to be a little more volatile for a couple of years at least."

"I know. Next time I know it's coming, we're going at it in the yard. It might at least save on the interior. She's got a hell of an arm. So, what's up?"

"Actually I called to ask if she could meet me, but better yet, how about if I come get her so she can show me exactly where she was run off the road. It would be helpful because I might be able to tell from tire tracks whether they were waiting for her."

"Yes, please. She wants to go to Buzzwire. Maybe you could drop her off there and make some excuse to come back and get her after she's done? She should be fine there, and you could bring her back."

Mick smiles. "Yea, sure if she'll let me. Hopefully she won't be throwing things at me too."

"Thanks. Let me ask her, and I'll call you back."

Josef wanders into Beth's office. He closes the door. If round two is about to start, the whole house doesn't have to hear it.

She's sitting in her chair staring at the ceiling. "It's not going to get any better is it?"

For a minute, Josef thinks that she's talking about life in general and that she's ready to start packing.

Beth senses his feelings and looks up. She smiles at him. "You idiot, I'm not talking about us. I'm talking about having people looking over my shoulder. It's going to be this way as long as I work at Buzzwire and as long as you run this community." She senses his relief and wants to smack him again. He's been this way ever since Mick got back.

He walks over and pulls her into his arms. "Yes, I'm afraid it is. It's always going to be this way. It will get better, and then get worse, but it's always going to be that way to some degree. I think if we are going to manage, you may as well resign yourself to some degree of protection. In the easy times, it won't be so much, but when it's like this it just has to be or I'm going to go crazy."

Somewhat sullenly she tells him. "You never have a bodyguard."

He looks at her like he can't believe she's making the comparison. "I'm also four hundred years old. With age comes a certain degree of power that you just don't possess and won't for a long time. Baby, you're not even a year old. This isn't just about you having a bodyguard isn't?"

"I just think you're being silly. I just can't imagine that anyone is even going to bother coming after me."

Josef sighs, "Mick and I had a conversation about Lola a while back, Mick asked me what there was in my life that Lola would go after that was as important to me as you were to him, and I told him nothing because if you have people or things that mean so much to you, eventually they are used against you." Josef turns her face to look at him. "Believe me when I tell you, that it's the truth." He softly kisses her. "Now I have something that means that much to me. Before you, I insulated myself for a reason. I didn't want to ever feel that way because I was afraid that when they try come after me again, and they will, that something terrible would happen. Do you think that if you had been living with me when Lola came after all of us that she would have hesitated for one minute to come after you herself? She thought since you were human and at Mick's alone you would be easy to kill. She would not have made that mistake if you were here with me and all my extra security."

Beth looks at him wearily. "Ok, I get it, but here's the deal. When things are calm and quiet like they were until the other day, I do what I want without any extra hand holding."

Josef starts to interrupt and she stops him. "And in exchange, if anything weird or out of the ordinary happens I'll tell you, and you can tell Mick and the two of you can fret until we find out it's nothing and then I go back to no hand holding?"

Josef smiles at her. "I think I can live with that, but I want a little more specifics. When it's bad like it is now, you do what Mick and I tell you, and that means a bodyguard or sometimes staying home." He can feel the frustration coming off of her.

Beth sighs. "You know, I think I fell in love with the two of the most impossible vampires in the world." She shakes her head. "Alright, It's a deal, but I don't have to like it and if I get a little grumpy than you'll have to excuse me." She smiles. "Sorry about the crystal. I know that's one of your favorite decanters."

"Not a problem. I caught it." He laughs softly. "Your aim was off. You missed my head."

Beth leans into him and kisses him hard and Josef readily responds and starts running his hands up and down her body. She smiles at him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Me? Nothing, just kissing my lady."

She smiles at him and he knows it's ok again. "Josef, you came in here for a reason besides trying to get me to let you make love to me on my desk."

He smiles at her mischievously. "One of these days."

She laughs at him and softly kisses him. "I'm sure you're right."

He draws her in close and kisses her. She moans into his mouth and it's all the encouragement he needs. He slowly kisses his way across her jaw line and nips and tickles her neck with his tongue. "Oh, Josef…Yes." Her breathing starts to get ragged.

She runs her hands across his chest and grabs the bottom of his shirt and pulls it over his head. His hands are under her shirt gently running his hands up and down her rib cage stopping just short of her breasts. She leans into him and presses herself against him. He puts a little space between them and starts to slowly unbutton her blouse. Her blouse and bra quickly slide to the floor. Josef looks down at her. Her eyes are slowly turning color. He never tires of seeing her in vamp form. She looks so amazing. He leans down and nips her breast and she starts running her hands through his hair. He teases her nipples and listens to her growl out his name. He reaches down and unbuttons her jeans. He pushes them down past her hips. Beth smiles and wiggles a little and they drop to the floor, but stop at her shoes. He picks her up and sets her on the desk. She kicks off her shoes. He grabs the bottom of her jeans and they are gone as well.

Josef looks at her sitting on the desk without any thing on and shakes his head at how beautiful she is. Josef leans in again and starts kissing her. With nothing to lean on she is slowly laying on the desk and Josef is hovering over her, bracing himself against the desk. He's kissing, nipping and tasting her. She thinks it feels like his mouth is everywhere at once. Her skin feels like it's a fire. She needs him, all of him.

Beth reaches down for his belt, but can't reach it from her position. He gets the message and sheds the rest of clothes. He scoots her to the edge of the desk. He positions himself in front of her and with one sure movement he's deep inside her. Josef places his hands on her hips and holds her tight and starts to move inside her. Beth moans and opens her legs wider. She tries to brace her feet back against the desk. He hears her saying his name over and over. Soon she's begging him to go faster and harder. He slams into her and he feels her start to contract around him. He sinks his fangs into her neck as she starts to come and she moans his name. She sinks her teeth into his shoulder and feels him empty himself inside of her.

Fangs retracted, he's leaning over the desk with a hand on either side of her head looking down at her still breathing rapidly. Finally they both can breathe again. She smiles up at him. "Wow never did that before. Glad the poor old desk held up."

He snickers at her. "Just because something is old, doesn't mean it isn't rock solid."

Beth laughs. "Oh, don't I know it, in fact, I'm counting on it." Josef leans down and kisses her soundly.

Beth slides off the desk and onto the floor and starts looking for her clothes that seem to be here and there. Josef does the same.

Finally, they sort out all the clothing and get dressed again.

Josef nudges her, "Come on, back to the topic at hand. This was a very nice way to spend the evening, but we still have some things to sort out."

Beth gives him a sour look. "Do we have to? I'm going upstairs to take a shower and then I'm going to go get Dave or one of the security guys, and I do this just for you, and go to Buzzwire."

"Wait, Mick called. He is going to pick you up and take you out to the spot where you were run off the road so he can check and see if they were waiting for you. He said if you don't throw things at him he would take you to Buzzwire and pick you up when you're ready to come home. Is that ok?"

Beth rolls her eyes. "Yes, I suppose. When is he coming out to get me?"

"Probably as soon as I call him and let him know you've given your ok."

"Well, tell him an hour so I have time to get ready." She smiles at him. "Since someone ravished me on the desk."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Love to read reviews….. please :)  
**


	9. Chapter 9

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent :)  
**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick is driving down the Pacific Coast Highway with Beth. "So tell me about the night you got run off the road."

Beth shrugs. "No big deal. I was at work and decided to head home. I was driving down the PHC not far from here and I spotted this car in my rear view mirror, and it was all over the road. I did my best to get out of the way because it was so iritic, but it still managed to make me drive off on to the shoulder."

Mick interrupts. "Do you always drive the same way back and forth to work?"

"Pretty much. It's so pretty along here that I like to drive this way."

"Was the car distinctive in anyway? Do you remember if it was an older car, or if there were a lot of young kids in it? Anything at all?"

Beth thinks about it and shakes her head. "Nothing much comes to mind. I was too busy trying to stay out of the way. All I remember is it was a red car, older, but how old I don't know. One driver, it didn't look as though anyone else was in the car."

Beth looks at him. "This is just about where I noticed it in the mirror."

Mick stops and turns the car around. He goes back a few miles and this time he watches the side of the road carefully trying to see if he can see any where that there may have been room for a car to pull off and wait for Beth to pass and there is nothing. He points to a wide spot, "Is that where you pulled off?"

"Yes. I was lucky it was there. There aren't many spots along here."

Mick pulls up and inspects the area. He gets back in the car. "I think you were right on this one. I think it was just random."

Beth sighs. "One good thing. Please tell Josef that."

Mick smiles and nods. "I'm going to drop you off at Buzzwire and then I'm going to go check on a couple of other things, ok?"

"Yea, that's fine."

Mick is driving along and every once in awhile he looks over at Beth. Finally she got tired of it. "What?"

Mick laughs. "I was just trying to picture you throwing Josef's decanter at his head."

Beth shakes her head and looks at him sheepishly. "Yea, bad behavior seems to sneak up on me now and then. I know he's just concerned, but it's irritating. I think we've found a compromise that I'll live with reluctantly."

Mick smiles at her, "That's good. You two looked so happy the other day. I had hoped it was that way most of the time."

"Most all the time we are really happy." Beth glances at Mick. "It's just now and then when I realize what a disadvantage it is to be living with a guy who is four hundred years older than I am." Beth laughs." Now and then, Josef has control issues."

Mick joins in her laughter. "You think?"

Mick smiles sadly at her and softly she hears. "I'm glad he makes you happy. More than I ever could."

Beth shakes her head and hugs herself. "Mick don't. Please, just don't. I can't go there. What's done is done. You know how much I love both of you. Let's just not go back there. It hurts too much."

Mick shakes his head slowly. It's like she said, what's done is done. No use going back. God, he wishes he could go back. He would accept what he is, he would drink direct forever and never bitch another day in his life.He would do anything if he could just have those last few days before she left to do over. There is nothing worse than a life full of regrets.

Mick manages to find a place to pull over and sits staring straight ahead. "I have to say one thing. I know you don't want to hear it, and I know it hurts, but if I don't get it out it's going to eat me up."

They turn and look at each other; tears in her eyes, anguish in his. Beth nods for him to continue.

"I know how badly I messed up what was probably my only chance at any kind of happiness, and I don't expect anything to change in the near future. I know that you and Josef are happy and I'm happy for you but….if for any reason…..I'll always be waiting."

Beth takes a deep breath and nods at him. Mick starts the car and pulls back on to the road. She hopes that his confession has given him some small measure of peace because it's killing her. She's fine, as long as no one makes her face all her feelings again.

Mick stops in front of the building and watches her walk away. Her head is down and her shoulders are slumped. He shakes his head. He never does anything, but hurt her. He watches her until she enters the building, then he leaves to go talk to the foreman that worked on Josef's house.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick pulls up to the construction site and stops at the gate. One of the carpenters glances at him, and Mick approaches him. "I'm looking for the foreman, I believe a man named Demitri Andropov. The guy points across the yard to a man with a hard hat and a clipboard. Mick thanks him and heads over to have a chat with Mr. Andropov.

Demitri looks up as Mick approaches. "I'm Mick St. John, I came to talk to you about an incident that happened on a job you were foreman of a few months ago."

He shakes his head. "Please don't get me fired. It was an accident. I would never let anyone intentionally hurt someone on my job site."

Mick looks puzzled. "How do you know what I'm talking about?"

Demitri sighs. "Mr. Robins said it was about something that happened at Mr. Konstan's yes?"

Mick nods. "Well, the time at Mr. Konstan's was the only time we've had any kind of accidents when I've been foreman. I have a very good record." Mick notes the pride in the man's voice. "The pretty blond lady was so nice and she was just in the wrong place when that stupid crane operator went too far and tapped the bricks that were stacked next to where she was standing. Believe me, I fired the crane operator on the spot and I gave a raise to the guy who saw what was happening and pushed her out of the way."

Mick nods, "Is there anyway I can talk to the guy who saved her?"

Demitri shrugs, "Sure." He takes a walkie talkie out of his pocket, turns the dial and speaks into it, then puts it back in his pocket. "He'll be down in a couple minutes. If that's all, I have a lot to do."

Mick nods. "Sure, no problem. I'll just wait by the gate. How's that?"

"I'll send him over when he comes down."

Mick stands by the gate and sees this young kid walk over. "Mr. Andropov said that you wanted to talk to me?"

Mick smiles and notices the kid has a heavy accent. "Yes, I wanted to ask you about what happened with the bricks at Mr. Konstan's house a few months ago. I was told you pushed Beth out of the way of the bricks."

The kid shrugs. "I was standing there waiting for the crane operator to get done so we could forklift the bricks into smaller stacks. They aren't supposed to be that high. The lady was standing next to me when I see the crane hit the corner of the stack. I grabbed her and rolled out of the way. Truthfully Mr. I was trying pretty hard to get myself out of the way and she was there, so I grabbed her on the way."

Mick looks at the kid. What's your name?"

The kid looks at him a little suspiciously. "Billy….Billy Adams."

"Well, Billy, the lady you saved is a really good friend. I'd like to thank you. She means an awful lot to Mr. Konstan and I so I just want to thank you again." Mick holds out his hand and they shake.

Billy smiles and shrugs. "Like I said, I was getting out of the way and she was there, so I grabbed her on the way."

"Billy, here's my card. I'm a Private Investigator if you ever need help let me know."

Billy looks at the card. "Sure Mr. St. John, but I doubt you could help me with what I need."

Mick looks at him questioningly. "You never know."

Billy watches Mick for a minute trying to decide if he can trust him. "My name isn't really Billy Adams."

Mick smiles. "No?"

"It's Aleksy Kluk. I'm from Poland. I'm in the country on a green card, but it's running out. Things are so slow in this country since the troubles, that processing takes forever. I'm going to be deported before they get my papers sent through. If they send me back, they will send my parents and sisters back as well."

Mick nods and thinks about it for a minute. "I might know someone who can help. I'm not promising anything, but I'll see what I can do."

Aleksy puts his hand out to Mick. "Thanks Mr. St. John, for trying. I need to get back to work. I need to make as much money as I can before I'm sent back."

Mick nods and watches as Aleksy runs back to the job site.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mo watches Beth sitting at her desk and wonders what is going on with her. She came in looking like she was going to break into tears at any moment, pulled herself together enough to give Mo a great story and then goes over and sits at her desk and stares off with tears in her eyes. Mo shakes her head and spots someone in the corner of her eye; she turns to see who it is and all is clear. The P.I. is back. Mo walks back to her office. This isn't anything she can help with.

Mick walks over to Beth's desk. She sensed him as soon as he came in. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes. Mick looks at her and kicks himself for telling her how he felt. He makes a decision. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Beth picks up her stuff and they head for the car. Mick stops, as he thinks back to that gentle kiss she gave him in this same parking lot a lifetime ago. She looks at him and knows what he is thinking. He shakes his head and starts moving again. They are sitting in the car not moving. Mick turns to Beth. "As soon as I figure all of this out I'm leaving town again. I thought I could…I can't…"

Silently Beth starts to cry. "It won't matter. The universe is going to make you come back again and again. Mick please take me home." Softly he hears her "I need Josef." That cuts him like a knife. Beth sees the shadow cross his face. "You have to understand one thing. I love Josef, just like I love you, but Josef is also my sire and when I feel like this, he's the only answer. He says that over time that will get less so, but it's still like that. When I'm in this much pain I have to be with Josef."

Mick nods and thinks that he does understand it rationally, but nothing with Beth is rational for him. He drives them to Josef's. The silence is deafening.

They pull up to the house and Beth bolts to the house to find Josef. Mick just sits in the car staring into the night.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef senses her turmoil and goes over to sit on the couch in his study. Beth runs directly into his arms. He hasn't heard her cry like this since Mick left last time. Josef shakes his head. He had hopes that this was going to work. He can feel her anguish and pain.

There is an solution, but Josef isn't sure that Beth and Mick will go for it. He's old enough that he shed society's conventions a long time ago. Mick is very much a product of his time and Beth, well, she's so young that…. …he doesn't want to…. make her feel like she has to do something she's not comfortable to make them all happy.

Josef does a mental shrug and figures he can at least try. If it's not something that she wants then there is no point in mentioning it to Mick. He just hopes her reaction isn't so bad that she ends up thinking less of him for suggesting it.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick gets out of the car when he sees the off road vehicle come up the driveway. It's a modified Jeep. He stands in the middle of the driveway with his arms crossed, blocking further access. A young man gets out of the drivers side, Mick guesses he's about twenty-four. The passenger's side opens and a man in his seventies gets out. They cross the driveway to him. The young man has a grim look on his face. "I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Konstan?"

Mick watches him for a moment and then out of the corner of his eye he realizes the older man is disoriented and starting to get upset. Mick frowns at him and the young man walks over and gently guides him over to where they are standing. "I'm sorry, he doesn't track very well anymore and I can't leave him alone." He asks again if he can speak to Mr. Konstan.

Mick shakes his head slowly. "Mr. Konstan is in the middle of helping a friend and can't be disturbed. I'm Mick St. John; I'm a close friend, maybe I can help you."

"My name is Troy Williams. This is my grandfather, Able." Mick and Troy shake hands. "Mr. St. John I had no idea what he is still capable of or I wouldn't have left the keys to my jeep where he could get them, never mind my gun."

Mick realizes this is about the shot from across the lake. "Your grandfather is the one that shot across the lake?"

Troy nods. "I hope no one was hurt."

Mick shakes his head. "No, everyone is fine."

"I'm his only family, everyone else is gone. I thought I could work and still look after him. He got away from me the other night while I was on shift and took my deer gun and my Jeep. He used to hunt these hills when he was a kid. That's the time he's in mostly now. I didn't even realize what happened until I noticed my gun was moved. I smelled the barrel and realized he'd shot it, so I did some investigating and found where he had been parked on the other side of the lake. I thought I better come over and see what damage had been done. I'll pay for anything I can. I'm just thankful no one was hurt."

Mick smiles. "Don't worry about it. I'll talk to Josef, it's fine. I'm just glad you came over to clear it up. It will take a load off of his mind to know it was an accident and not something else. You take your granddad and go. It's fine. I'll square it with Josef."

Troy nods. "Thank you Mr. St. John. I guess we'll be going then."

Mick watches as Troy gets the old man in the Jeep and they drive away.

_Well, the last of it drops into place_. Mick could almost laugh. Of all the random crap to bring him back to LA. He thinks Beth is right. The universe will just keep bringing him back again and again. Maybe the three of them are doomed to go through eternity making each other miserable. God, he hopes not. Mick heads to the house to say good-bye.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef looks down at her. "Beth, what happened?" She shakes her head no. "Come on baby, you know you can tell me anything." He gently brushes a lock of hair out of her eyes. "You figured out how much Mick is hurting didn't you?"

Beth nods. "Oh, Josef…. it's awful, he's hurting so much." She stops and looks at him.

Gently Josef kisses her nose, "Yes, me too."

Beth shakes her head. "Are we going to be like this forever? I'm so tired of it."

Josef looks at her and takes a deep breath. "I have an idea to run by you that might make it better, but you have to promise me that you will be completely honest with me and tell me what you think. If you have any reservations at all about this you need to say so or else we all end up worse off than we are now. Can you do that?"

Beth nods at him.

"How about if you live with me for another six months, that would be a year all together, and then you move in and live with Mick for a year and then back here with me for a year?"

She sits up and he can tell she's seriously considering it. "You mean just alternate every other year with each of you?"

He nods.

"But Josef what about when I feel like this and have to see you?"

"I think in another six months this overwhelming need you have to be near me when you're upset will be a lot less. I think Mick will understand if you need to see me because you're upset." He smiles. "Plus if you're living with Mick, I suspect you won't feel like this so much."

She looks at him suspiciously. "You're not going to change your mind and not want me to come back, are you? You're not trying to get rid of me because I'm such a pain in the ass are you?"

He smiles and shakes his head. "No, if I thought there was any other way for the three of us to get through this insanity and keep you with me all the time I would. I just don't see any other way. Truthfully now, what do you think?"

Beth smiles. "I think it would be nice and I think it would fix a lot of problems, but you said I had to end one relationship before I started another. I'm afraid. This doesn't sound like that and I don't want you two hurting each other."

"That's why it's so important that we all are honest about how we feel about the whole thing. If Mick can't do this without feeling like he's going to rip my head off when you come back here to live, then it won't work."

"Do you think Mick will go for it?" Beth wrinkles her nose at Josef and smiles. "Sometimes he's sort of stodgy …"

Josef sighs. "What he is, is a product of his time and not old enough to have shed it yet. I don't know if he will or not, but I wasn't sure you would. All we can do is ask." Josef smiles at her. "Mick isn't as stodgy as you think…it's different because we love you, but we have er…. shared women before…"

Josef laughs at her expression. "Wow. You really were drinking buddies."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick looks back and forth between them and he sits down heavily across from them. "You two need to give me a minute to catch up. This is kind of out of left field."

Mick puts his head on the back of the couch and stares at the ceiling. Beth fears he's going to say no.

Mick thinks about continuing the way they have and how awful it's been. This sure as hell can't be any worse and it would give him something to look forward to, and six months to see about enlarging the apartment, get either a bigger freezer for the two of them or one of her own. He stops with a start, realizing he's already made his decision.

He looks up at them and smiles. "Yea, that works for me. It's got to be better than the mess we have now." He looks at Beth and gently he says, "It would be nice to have something to look forward to again."

Beth stands up and looks at both of them. "Ok, so we've all got this straight and there will be no fighting about this later? No territorial issues or jealousy bullshit. When it's time for me to move, no problems right? Mick?"

He nods and smiles at her. "Yes, I know, you both think I'm the biggest concern but believe me I can do this if it means not going back where we were. I promised myself if I got this chance again, I wouldn't mess it up a second time."

Beth laughs as she sits down next to Josef. "What's so funny?"

Beth shakes her head and smiles. "You two have effectively made it so no female vamp in the state is ever going to speak to me again." She looks at them both. "How did I ever get so lucky as to fall in love with you two?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef shakes his head in wonderment when he thinks of the ways that Mick and Beth have changed his life. He just got off the phone with a contact at the State Department. The kid from Poland is in, along with his parents and sisters. They will reprioritize his file and get him papers to stay before he's deported. Josef always rewards people who helped him, but he wishes there was more he could do for this kid. Josef will contact George about seeing if he can find out if the kid and his family need anything else. He'd saved Beth's life. Even she wouldn't have survived that stack falling on her and if she had…. the pain…he hates to think about it.

Mick is checking on the Williams kid to see what his situation is and how they can make sure that Able won't be taking any more shots at them. The funny thing is, Josef doesn't mind helping this one either. What none of them know is that Josef used to hunt these woods with Able, back a long time ago. It's one of the reasons he put the house here. Of course with all the development there aren't any deer left, but Able doesn't know that. He thinks about Able when he was a teenager and remembers him fondly. They had fun hunting out here.

Beth is about as happy as Josef has seen her in a long time. He knows she was happy with him while Mick was gone, but she's more at peace now. It's good to see her emotions settling down. Mick went down to see the girls this afternoon and Emily winked at Josef when Mick was done feeding from her. Josef knows that is Emily's way of saying he's much better. Josef stares off into the distance and smiles as he realizes life has fallen into place rather nicely for once.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

** Please, review and let me know what you think and if you want me to keep going. If enough people don't like where this went I may just kill it right here. It's fine, I knew it wouldn't be for everyone...but I have to go where it takes me. :) It's like I told someone, it's probably a result of my not being able to decide who I like better, Mick or Josef. :)  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

_**Six months later…..**_

Beth looks in the mirror and scrunches her nose at her reflection. She already knows that Josef won't like this one either. She and the shop owner are both getting exasperated with him. Beth leaves the confines of the dressing room and before she makes a full turn he is shaking his head. "Nope. Not that one either."

Beth can't help but laugh at him. "Are you sure you're straight? I've never known any straight man that cares this much about clothing."

Josef gives her a wolfish smile full of lust. "What do you think, my lady?"

Despite herself, Beth blushes and Josef laughs. "Just what I thought." Before Beth can think up a suitable retort, Josef is at her side. He takes her in his arms. "You look beautiful in anything, but I want this to be something special."

Beth sighs. "I know you do, but I think I've tried on everything in the store." And before the owner can interrupt, Beth holds her hand up. "Excuse me, Boutique." Beth looks at Josef and rolls her eyes, and she can see Josef holding back a snicker.

Josef cocks his head to the side and turns to the woman. "Do you know who Grace Kelly was?"

The woman sniffs "Of course. She was an amazing fashion icon in her time."

"Is there any chance you have anything that is reminiscent of her style?"

The woman stands staring at Josef for a moment and then snaps her fingers. "I've got it."

Josef turns to Beth. "Do you know who Grace Kelly was?"

"Sure, High Society and To Catch a Thief. She was beautiful."

The woman returns "I put the gown in the dressing room for you."

Beth takes a deep breath, crosses her fingers and heads for the dressing room.

Josef figures they either have a winner or Beth has decided to never come out again. When she finally comes out she is back in her own clothes. "Pay the nice lady."

"But I didn't get to see the dress, let alone see the dress on you."

"And you won't, until it's time for the party. They'll send it along."

"Oh, no you don't. I want to see it on you."

"Josef, don't you trust me?"

He groans inwardly. "That's a loaded question. I trust you with my life, just not with your clothing choices."

Beth swats at him. "Your seriously going to make me try this on for you, aren't you?"

"Yes, baby, I am." He says this with enough conviction that Beth knows she might as well just do it and get it over with. "Nice try though."

Beth heads back to the dressing room to try on the new gown for Josef. It's a dark electric blue. The dress is simple with; clean lines that hug her figure. Beth thinks it makes the blue in her eyes stand out, and she likes that it's not fussy. This is by far the best one she has tried on all day. She leaves the dressing room and the boutique owner smiles at her for the first time in hours, which gives Beth hope that they finally have a winner. She peaks around the corner at Josef. "Close your eyes."

He snickers, and hopes it's as good as she seems to think.

"Josef, close them and don't peak or I'm not coming out."

"Ok, ok." He can sense her excitement. He closes his eyes and hears her move to the center of the room.

"Ok, you can look now."

Josef opens his eyes and Beth can see from the look on his face he approves. He makes a motion for her to turn and she does. "Yes, that's it. You look amazing. You know, I think one of my Ferraris is that exact color of blue." Beth rolls her eyes.

He turns to the boutique owner. We'll take it. I'll have someone call you with the heel length she'll have on, so you can adjust the hem accordingly."

The owner nods. Beth changes and they spend more time finding accessories to match.

They finally get home and Beth flops down on the couch in Josef's study. "Josef, that's it. I'm done. I hate shopping. I'm never going shopping for clothes with you again."

Josef sits down next to her and gathers her up in his arms. "In less than three weeks I have to give you up. It's been a great year for us, and I want to celebrate."

Josef looks down at her and sees the tears welling up in her eyes. "Now don't start that. It will be fine, and in a year you'll be back here."

Beth sniffs the tears back and sighs. "I'm going to miss you. Why are we having this party on the night before I leave? I want one last night with you all to myself."

Josef kisses her deeply. "And I'll miss you. We are having the party on that night because if I'm not occupied with something it could get ugly, and you may not be going anywhere."

Beth let out a sigh. "Josef…. you were so intent on seeing what Mick and I thought of this nobody ever asked you what you thought. I need the truth from you, too."

"The truth is, it's better than the alternative and that's all I can say. I'll be fine, but you need to know one thing, no one is going to replace you. So if you hear things…"

Beth laughs. "In other words, when the vamp gossips get going and talking about how many woman your seeing at once, I should not be concerned that any of them mean anything to you."

Josef gives her a smirk. "Pretty much."

Beth gives him a speculative look and starts to move away from him. "You sure this party isn't a way for you to check out all the women you've passed up over the last year?" Beth laughs, wanting to tease him a little. "That's it, isn't it? You just want them all to know that you're going to be back in circulation again."

Josef grabs her before she can get far and pulls her down into his lap. He growls into her ear. "No, this is about saying good-bye to you for a year."

Beth was just teasing him, but she realizes that she may have hurt him. "Josef, I'm sorry. I wasn't serious. I know how much you love me and want to celebrate the year we spent together." She gently strokes his face. "I love you, and I'm sure the party will be wonderful."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth looks across the ballroom and watches everyone having such a nice time. Her gaze stops when she sees Josef. He looks so amazing. He's wearing a charcoal tux with a dark red shirt. No wonder almost every woman at this party is trying to get his attention.

Beth's hand unconsciously moves to the necklace she's wearing. Tonight when she was done getting dressed, Josef wandered in and handed her a velvet box. Beth knew Josef didn't do things half way, and her hands trembled at the thought of what he'd done now. She gently opened the box and a beautiful diamond necklace with a matching bracelet and earrings shone in the lights. Beth tried to speak but nothing came out. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "It's beautiful…too beautiful…I can't…I mean…you shouldn't have." Beth moved to his arms. "It's beautiful Josef and I love it. Thank you."

"I'm glad you like it. Can I help you with it?"

"Of course. I'd like that."

Beth put on the earrings and then held her hand out so he could wrap the bracelet around her wrist. Josef snapped the clasp and then brought her wrist to his lips and kissed the underside of her wrist sending a shiver through her. Beth turned and swept her hair up and out of the way, so Josef could put the necklace on her. Josef nuzzled her neck and smiled at her reaction while he attached the clasp. Beth walked over to the full-length mirror. She stood back, looking at the overall effect of the new dress and jewelry. She shook her head and saw Josef frown behind her. "You don't like it?"

"It's beautiful, and I love everything you've done for me." Beth turned to him. "I love you. It's just a little overwhelming."

Beth brings herself out of her reverie and continues to watch Josef across the room. He stops and smiles across the room at Beth and laughs when she is surprised that he knew she was watching him. Beth snickers and shakes her head. Men are the same no matter if they are human or vampire. The last few weeks, Josef has been making love to her on practically every flat surface, vertical and horizontal, in the house and sometimes outside of it. She knows it is his subtle way of staking claim, even if he won't acknowledge it, or even recognize it. If that's what it takes for him to let her go, it's fine with her, she giggles to herself, more than fine with her. Nobody was ever going to hear her complain.

Robert approaches Josef, whispers in his ear and Josef moves off to his study to take the call.

"Mick?"

"Josef we may have trouble. I was going for a drive and I've picked up a tail. I'm not working on anything right at the moment that would warrant this, so be on guard. I'm going to swing by for a minute and see if I lose them at your place."

"See you then." Josef hangs up and turns to Robert. "Get Dave in here."

Josef sits and stares out into the night. He turns as he hears his security head approach. "I just got a call from Mick. We may have trouble. I want two of your best men watching Beth at all times. They don't need to be close, but I want them to be able to get to her at a moments notice. Also, make sure the girls are well protected." Josef smiles up at Dave ruefully. "It may be nothing but…."

Dave shrugs. "Better safe than sorry. I'll get right on it."

Returning to the party, Josef walks up behind Beth and wraps a possessive arm around her. He knows from watching her through the night that she has no idea the glances she is getting from some of the partygoers. The woman are envious and the men are trying to figure out how to shake her lose from Josef. Josef has had to let more than one man know that he will not put up with any nonsense.

Josef watches Coraline appear in the crowd. He doesn't want Beth to be taken by surprise so he leans in and whispers in her ear. "Beth, you'll never guess who I just saw."

"Coraline? She's been here a good hour or more."

Josef smiles at the sound of cold steel in Beth's voice. "Still not one of your favorite vamps."

"Not one of my favorite anything. She hurts Mick over and over. The bitch needs to be taken out and staked."

"Beth…" she can hear the warning in his voice.

"I know, I know, it was different when I staked her before because I was human and oh yea, so was she. She's going to be surprised to find Mick isn't so uptight about being a vampire anymore."

Josef laughs. "No, what's going to get her is that he doesn't mind being a vampire because of you. Now that will piss her off. Baby, the best revenge is living well. Please don't antagonize her. She's far more powerful than you are, and it probably wouldn't take much for her to come after you. I'm sure she was less than pleased when she found out you had been turned. Now you won't die and leave her Mick."

"Yea, yea….I'll settle with her some day, you can be sure of that, but you don't have to worry Josef. I'll bide my time. Hey, look who else decided to join us."

Josef watches as Mick approaches them. Mick leans over and kisses Beth on the cheek. Josef steels himself to keep from doing something stupid. Mick sees the tightness in Josef's smile and thinks he just stay for a minute. This is, after all, their last night together. "Hey, nice party. Just thought I would stop by for a minute and say hi." Mick sees no point in alarming Beth with what he and Josef have discussed.

Coraline sees the three of them and gives a little wave. She starts to move towards them. "Oh, look your ex is headed this way. Aren't we oh, so civilized."

The sarcasm is not lost on Mick and Josef, who both smile. Coraline walks across the room to them and stops. She stares at Mick for a minute and then continues. As Coraline leaves the crowd behind Beth realizes that Coraline has a man following close at her heels. He's just over six foot tall. He has very dark wavy hair and a nice build. Beth snorts when she realizes how much he reminds her of Mick. Apparently if Coraline can't have the original, she's going to go for a knock off.

Coraline looks Beth over from head to toe. "Beth. I see you finally decided to join us."

Beth glances at Corline's escort. "Coraline, nice knockoff." Beth gives her a dead smile.

Coraline narrows her eyes and then turns to Mick "So it's true. You're back to the freshies."

Mick smiles, "Now and then, now and then."

Coraline turns to Josef and gives him a tilt of her head. "I commend you for finally getting through to him."

Josef snorts. "Not me" as he gives Beth a sidelong glance.

Coraline turns back to Mick. "You, you, are drinking direct and have finally come to terms with what you are? You don't care about being human again?"

Mick shrugs. "No reason to be human now. The only woman I've ever really loved, loves me enough to _choose to join me as a vampire_."

Coraline looks like she's been slapped. The emphasis on 'chooses to be a vampire' is not lost on her.

Coraline turns to Beth and can't quite read the expression on her face. Coraline thinks that she's missing something, but can't figure out what it is. "Beth….I was under the impression that you lived here with Josef."

"I do. For now."

"For now?"

Mick watches this exchange and can't help but want to put in his two cents. "Yes, tomorrow she's moving in with me for awhile."

"For awhile? So is she with you or Josef?"

Josef sees where this is going and wants in, too. "Yes, for a while, she is with Mick, then she'll move back in with me and then she'll be with me again."

Coraline narrows her eyes and looks at Beth. "You move back and forth between them?"

Beth nods and then laughs. "Calm yourself Coraline, green is not a good color on you."

She then turns to Josef. "You've never been faithful to one woman in the two hundred years I've known you."

Josef smiles. "Until this last year."

Coraline looks as though she's going to lunge at Beth, who just smirks at her. "Oh, and I'd like to thank you."

Coraline narrows her eyes at her. "For what?"

"Well, if not for you, I would never have met these two wonderful men who I love so much. I just want to thank you for making it all possible."

Coraline looks at the three of them standing there smiling pleasantly at her, and it's too much. Mick sees her start to shift her weight for an attack. "Coraline if you touch her you'll be dead before you hit the floor." Josef joins Mick in a low growl and both flash their fangs at her. Beth notices that Coraline's escort has taken several steps backwards. _A really bad knockoff,_ Beth thinks.

Coraline pushes down her anger and hisses at Beth. "Bitch." She hears the tinkle of Beth's laughter as she turns and leaves.

Beth turns to Josef and gives him a big hug and a kiss. "You're right. The best revenge is living well. Thanks guys." She shakes her finger at Josef. "You said not to antagonize her, and you jumped right in."

Josef laughs. "I just couldn't resist. Now you stay out of her way."

Mick snorts. "I'll be right back."

Beth watches as Mick crosses over to Coraline, who looks pleased when she sees him coming over to her. Coraline glances over at Beth and tries to look smug until she sees the laugh Beth lets out. Mick puts his hand under Coraline's chin so she has to look right into his eyes. After a minute, she jerks her head away and stalks out of the party. Mick ambles back to Josef and Beth.

Beth thinks this really is a great party. Tormenting Coraline is the most fun she's ever had. "That went well."

"I just explained that if anything, and I mean anything, happened to you she would be at the top of my list and I would probably be so angry I wouldn't be asking a lot of questions just carrying out judgment, so she was probably better off not being even in the same city with you. Hopefully she will leave town."

Mick turns to Josef and Beth. "Now I'm taking off. Just dropped in to say hi. See you later." And he disappears into the party.

Beth feels a strong mix of emotions coming off of Josef and turns to him. "I'm trying." Is all he says.

She moves to his arms. "I know. Let's not do this now or I'm going to start crying and neither of us wants that."

Josef leans in and kisses her neck. "Would you like to dance?"

"Love to."

Josef takes her hand and, instead of going out on the dance floor, he guides her out to the balcony. The music softly wafts its way out to the balcony. Josef takes her in his arms and they close their eyes and sway to the music. Beth can feel Josef's breath on her neck and she instinctively moves to kiss him. Before they can progress farther Josef feels a tap on his shoulder and lets out a growl as he tries to ignore it. "This better be damned important."

Beth looks up at him and smiles. "Back to the real world."

Josef reluctantly lets Beth slip from his embrace, but leaves one arm around her waist. When he turns, he sees Cassandra watching them. Cassandra is a beautiful redhead that has always had a thing for Mick. Even with that beautiful mane of red hair, Mick's never been all that interested. "Hi, Josef."

Josef nods at her. "Cassie, I'd like to have you meet Beth. Beth this is Cassie."

Cassie barely gives Beth a glance. "Hi, nice to meet you." Cassie turns back to Josef. "Sorry for interrupting. I just thought I saw Mick. Do you know where he went?"

"Cassie he's gone. He just dropped by to say hi, and then he left."

"Damn. I always just miss him. I hear he's finally adjusting to life as a vampire."

Josef snorts and nods He turns to Beth. "Didn't we just have bits and pieces of this same conversation?"

Beth shakes her head. "I have apparently fallen in love with the two most sought after men in the damn state. At least they seem to be waiting to hit on you until I'm gone from the room, and don't you deny it. I saw that stacked blond propositioning you when she thought I was off to the ladies room."

Josef smirks at her and shrugs. "Not my fault."

Cassie is looking from one to the other. "I'm lost."

Josef sees the look in Beth's eyes and decides he better handle this one. "Cassie, dear, come have a drink with me and I'll explain." Josef moves away with the little redhead in tow. Beth rolls her eyes and goes back to the balcony, wishing Josef would join her again. Beth stands next to the railing watching the stars. She's so deep in thought she doesn't sense the vamp that is standing next to her until he speaks. "Beautiful."

Beth jumps a little and thinks of how unhappy Josef would be to know that she let a stranger get that close to her without her knowing it. "Yes, it's a very beautiful night." Beth turns to him. She sees a tall, dark haired vamp. Good looking enough but something isn't quite right with the eyes. She looks at him questioningly. "Have we met before Mr…?"

He smiles a very predatory smile. "Castillo. Lorenzo, Castillo, Miss Turner and I wasn't talking about the night." Beth recognizes the name right away and silently calls for Josef all the while keeping her cool.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Always love to hear comments from anyone out there reading…..**


	11. Chapter 11

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**This one is rated M for a reason, so be warned. **

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Lorenzo Castillo has been watching Josef and Beth all night. He laughs to himself as he thinks how stupid and foolish Josef has been to allow himself to feel so much for this woman, no matter how beautiful she is. Anyone can see that she is his weak spot. All Lorenzo has to do is watch and wait, and he will have the woman. When that happens, Kostan will do whatever Lorenzo wants to get her back, and what Lorenzo wants is Josef's money and power.

Lorenzo has been staying in the deep shadows, but seeing Beth standing alone in the dark at the railing he had an overwhelming desire to speak to her. During the evening he has had enough small talk with enough of the women at this party to hear a lot of catty remarks about her living arrangement and it's piqued his interest. He's also curious to see how she reacts to him since she tried to expose his business a few months ago with her news stories. At the time, he did nothing to stop it because he found it a useful way to clear his new enterprise of the old guard that was loyal to Tejada. He can tell she's very young, and he wonders if she will be frightened of him.

Beth coolly nods to him. "Well, Mr. Castillo, it's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you." _When I was investigating your illegal business practices and hoping you'd be put in jail. _Beth does a mental shrug. How was she supposed to know he was a vamp?

Castillo watches her for signs of fear and gets angry when all he senses from her is disdain. His anger is joined by a sense of outrage at her lack of response to his presence. He's far older than she is. _She should be suitably impressed_. His rage begins to build as she stands there with her head cocked looking at him like he is some kind of bug on the bottom of her shoe. _How dare she!_.

Beth starts to move away from him. "I'm sorry to leave, but I must rejoin the party. It was nice meeting you Mr. Castillo."

He reaches out to grab her arm and completely misses her, as Josef appears almost from thin air and gently moves Beth out of Castillo's reach. "Darling, you must introduce me to your new friend."

Lorenzo is surprised at how fast Kostan is at her side. He had not even heard her make a sound, but nonetheless Josef is there in the blink of an eye removing her from any contact Lorenzo tries to make.

Beth moves next to Josef and smiles sweetly at him. "This is Mr. Lorenzo Castillo, Mr. Castillo this is the host of this wonderful party, Josef Kostan."

Josef smiles a very predatory smile. "Nice to meet you Mr. Castillo." Josef turns to Beth. "Beth, would you go and get me a glass of AB negative?"

Beth knows Josef well enough to know that this really isn't a request, and this is one of those few times where she knows Josef expects her to do as he says. Beth smiles. _He can expect anything he wants. Doesn't mean he's going to get it._ Beth motions to one of the waiters. "Please get Mr. Kostan an AB negative."

Josef glances at her with his body turned slightly so that Lorenzo can't see his face and gives her a scowl. Beth smiles sweetly. There will be words about this later, she's sure.

Josef turns back to Castillo. Causally he asks. "So, how are you enjoying the party?"

Lorenzo had not bargained on dealing with Josef tonight. Speaking to the woman was a stupid mistake. He had overplayed his hand. He tries to think of a way to throw Josef off balance.

"It is very nice. Some of the most beautiful woman I've ever seen." Josef notices Lorenzo glance at Beth. Lorenzo continues. "For instance your companion here Ms. Turner, is it?" Beth nods. "Very beautiful. I am never opposed to looking at beautiful women. I even own a few." He says this very casually and watches Beth's eyes narrow at him. Castillo turns his attention to Josef. "I understand customs are different here, but I would buy her from you. I would pay you handsomely for such a beautiful young woman as this. Usually, I only buy humans, but I would make an exception in this case."

Beth starts to laugh. Her hand flies to her mouth in an attempt to try to cover, but it's too late.

Lorenzo narrows his eyes at her and watches her. She will pay for laughing at him. "I'm so sorry." In a fit of giggles she walks off.

Lorenzo had hoped to anger the two of them, but for some reason the opposite has happened.

Josef smiles as he watches her go. That was probably not a smart thing to do, but he couldn't really blame her. Josef looks at the man to see if he's serious or just trying to get a reaction from him. Josef decides it's a bit of both. "She's not for sale at any price to anyone, ever. She has a very protective family that will kill anyone that lays a hand on her. I tell you this to give you fair warning." Josef wishes he had the cutlass he used on Lola. He would take care of this problem right here and now.

Lorenzo watches Josef very carefully and cannot detect any fear or anger as they speak of his woman, like Beth, he seems amused by Lorenzo's request to buy her. His attitude is all very matter of fact. Maybe Lorenzo has misjudged the depth of Josef's involvement with her. Maybe she is little more than his whore. Lorenzo decides to push a little farther.

"In my country…"

Josef cuts him off, waving his hand dismissively. "Then go back to your country. This isn't it. That particular woman has a mind of her own and two very overprotective vampires that will cut your head off without a second thought if you try to get anywhere near her."

Lorenzo looks off into the distance, trying to figure out how to get the upper hand. He had heard during evening of the arrangement that the three lovers have. This makes no sense to him. If Konstan cares for her then why share her, and if he doesn't then why defend her? He gives a mental shrug. Lorenzo decides to take another tack. "Mr. Konstan, two things, I let her weed out the men I wanted cleared out of Tajada's organization last year when she was trying to write an expose of my organization. I understand that at the time she didn't know I was a vampire; she does now. Keep her safe; keep her away from my business. Secondly, if she causes me trouble I will do things to her that will make her wish that she had not been born."

Josef decides it's time that Lorenzo understood just who he is dealing with. Josef stares at Castillo and doesn't move a muscle until the younger vampire glances away.

Lorenzo feels the power rolling of Josef like it's a solid mass. He tries to stare him down, but Josef is the oldest vampire he's ever met and he had no idea of his power until just this minute. He realizes Josef has no need to make an exhibition of his power because he is so comfortable with it. Lorenzo wonders just how old this vampire in front of him is. He must find out more.

No wonder he didn't intimidate the young woman. She was used to dealing with a vampire that dwarfed any other he had ever dealt with in age and power.

Josef gives him a cold dead stare and slowly shakes his head. "If Beth had understood what an idiot you are, I'm sure she would not have bothered me when you approached her. You're a dead man. I don't know how yet, but I'm telling you now; you're a dead man walking. No one threatens a member of my family, and since I'm her sire, she is my family and she always has my protection."

Lorenzo hears Josef's words and realizes he could end up dead where he stands right now. He decides to get the hell out of there. This has not gone the way he had intended at all. Josef is more formidable than Lorenzo had ever guessed. With false bravado, he tells Josef, "We shall see."

Lorenzo turns and quickly walks towards the party with the intention of getting out of there. Josef keeps an eye on him by following him but not too closely. Josef spots one of his security people and motions to him.

"He's going for his car, I'm sure. Follow him, but try not to let him know it. I want to know where he's headed, and tell Dave to have Beth's security move in next to her."

The man nods and takes off, talking into his headset to the rest of the team.

Lorenzo doesn't think Josef will upset the party by killing him here in his home, but he's not taking any chances. He heads down the stairs and tells the attendant which car is his. As he stands there waiting for them to bring up his car, he sees a woman arguing with her escort. He feels the power coming from her. He moves around her so he can glance at her face; she is very pretty. He realizes she is the woman that was having a conversation with Josef and his friends; and he thought at the time that it did not look at all friendly. She dismisses her escort with a curt wave of her hand and he leaves her.

Lorenzo figures he doesn't have anything to lose, as long as he doesn't make her any madder, so he approaches her. "Hello. May I be of some assistance?"

Coraline looks him over and starts to dismiss him, but thinks better of it. "No, I'm fine. That imbecile that I came to this party with has no backbone. I can't believe I wasted my time on him."

Lorenzo gives her his most charming smile. "I don't believe we have been introduced. My name is Lorenzo Castillo." He takes her hand and kisses the back of it. If he can charm this powerful woman maybe she can help him get what he wants from Josef.

Coraline recognizes the name. She keeps tabs on her three antagonists and she knows it was Beth who wrote the stories on this man's business a few months ago. "I'm Coraline. It's nice to meet a man of your reputation." She realizes he might be just what she's looking for.

Lorenzo continues to try to charm her. "It is a shame your escort was not smart enough to know that true beauty needs to be guarded and protected. If I were your escort, no one would dare insult you. A woman of your beauty and stature should be revered."

Coraline gives him a speculative look. She knows she's being fed a line, but after the scene with Mick, Josef and Beth maybe it's what she needs. Mick's voice echoes in her head; the words "that Beth is the only woman he ever loved," make her sick. Coraline wants revenge on all three of them and what better way than to kill Beth. The thought of that smug bitch being at her mercy, makes Coraline smile. She just needs a dupe to take the fall or Mick will carry out his threat, and even if she can best him there is always Josef to contend with. The two of them looking for revenge, are not a force she would want to face.

Coraline thinks that this man could be the answer to her problem. If she could make him the fall guy..."Do you have a car here?"

Lorenzo smiles. "They have gone to get my car."

The attendant pulls up in a silver and black Mercedes. "Here it is now. Could I offer you a ride?"

Coraline smiles at him knowingly. "That is most generous of you. Thank you."

Lorenzo quickly walks around to the passenger's side and opens the door for her. Coraline slides in and Lorenzo gets in and they drive off into the night, neither of them noticing the black Porsche following them as they pass through the gate.

Josef calls Mick. "I think I found out where your tail came from."

"Where?"

"Remember the name Lorenzo Castillo? Well, apparently he wants to send a message to keep Beth away from him and his business. He threatened her tonight."

Josef hears Mick growl through the phone. "Exactly my reaction. Mick, I think we need to make sure he ends up without a head. He threatened her, after he offered to buy her from me. She laughed in his face for that, and he took it rather poorly."

"Josef, when you checked up on him earlier in the year did you get any information other than he's a vamp?"

"No, I wasn't looking for anything else. I just wanted to know what kind of problem, human or vamp, he might be. All I can tell you is; what he looks like and that he's around two hundred twenty five years old. I'm having him followed. Hopefully security can find out where he's headed. Are you still being tailed?"

"Yes, but I have an idea about that. I'll let you know later, how it comes out."

"Sounds good. Let me know if you find anything out." Josef hangs up and returns to the party to find Beth.

Beth keeps looking up expectantly. She's started to worry about Josef. Not two minutes after she left him on the balcony with Castillo, two of his security guys moved in and have been politely making small talk with her and trying to look like something other than bodyguards, which is ridiculous.

Mick flips open is phone for a call. "Victoria, it's Mick. I need a big favor if you're in the area." Mick outlines what he needs and says Josef will pick up the tab for a double body cleanup in return.

"Give me ten minutes to get me and the boys into position."

Mick winds through the industrial area of the city, looking for a signal from Victoria. He sees the signal from one of The Cleaner's guys and moves to drive down the narrow lane that is fenced in by warehouses on each side. He comes to the corner and as he passes a large black van moves to block the road. Another moves in behind the car that is following Mick, and the car is penned in. The Cleaner's people have been told to just stay out of the way and not get involved beyond moving the vans into place.

Mick walks back towards the car with a leather pouch in one hand and a gun loaded with silver bullets in the other. Mick motions for the man to get out of the car. The man gets out and Mick can smell that he's a vampire. If Mick had to guess he would say they are about the same age. The man slides out of the car with his hands up. Mick flips him around so his hands are behind him and puts the silver laced handcuffs on him. "I wouldn't strain against those cuffs much if I were you. If they cut into your wrists the silver is going to hurt like hell."

"Well, I'm not talking," the man says.

"Fine, with me. It's not my job to make you talk. That I'll leave up to Josef."

The man looks a little surprised and worried. Josef's reputation precedes him. Mick shoves him into the back seat of the Benz and goes over to thank Victoria. "Thanks. I needed this one alive." They shake hands and Mick drives back to Josef's.

Mick enters the gate and keeps going to the back of the mansion. Mick flips out the phone and calls Dave. "I managed to corral my tail, and I've got him in the back of the Benz. Where can I stash him until tomorrow night?"

"Meet me down at the security office. After what Lola did, we had a vamp holding cell put in. You know, if we could have held her, there would be a whole lot more people alive." Mick pulls down the drive to the security office and waits for Dave.

"Can you keep him on ice until tomorrow night? Josef and I both have some questions for him." Dave grabs the guy out of the back of Mick's car and takes him to the cell.

"Sure. No problem."

Mick heads for the house.

Beth watches Josef walk across the ballroom to her. He motions to her security and they move away. Beth wraps her arms around him and kisses him deeply " I've been looking for you." Josef kisses the top of her head. "I'm right here and everything is fine."

Mick goes to find Robert. He finds him in Josef's study. Robert glances up. "The least you could do is let them have this last night alone."

Mick shakes his head. "I'm trying, that's why I'm here talking to you instead of Josef. Robert, there is trouble, but I think it's contained for tonight. I want you to let Josef know that the guy that was tailing me is in the security office locked up tight. Tell him there is no reason to mess with him until tomorrow night. Considering the threat against Beth and the man locked up in the security holding cell, I may as well come back out tomorrow night."

Mick turns to leave and hears Robert. "You know, I've never seen him as happy is he has been this last year."

Mick doesn't really want to get into this with Robert, but doesn't see how to avoid it. "Robert, this was Josef's idea. He was the one that came up with it, not me. Is it better than the way it was before? Sure, especially for me. I won't deny that. I'm tired of having to justify our choices to other people, but you and I used to be friends and I hate to lose you as one over this."

Mick turns to leave and hears Robert sigh. "Mick it's not a deal breaker, but I want you to be patient if Josef is not particularly happy to see her leave, even for a year. He really loves Beth, more than I think he even realized until the three of you made this arrangement, and he had to face her going away."

Mick nods and leaves the mansion.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth watches as the last of the party guests finally say their farewells.

Josef walks over to Beth's security detail, thanks them and tells them to go find Dave and tell him that they have been relieved for the night. Beth wraps her arms around him and lets out a sigh of contentment. She looks up at him. "So, what would you like to do now?" Even as she asks the question she can see the love and desire in his eyes. Beth takes his hand and they walk up the stairs to their room.

Josef grabs the remote off the table and clicks on the stereo. He loosens his tie as he walks over to the balcony doors and opens them, letting in the cool night air. He turns and holds his hand out to Beth. "Would you like to finish our dance?"

Beth walks towards his outstretched hand and lets him guide her into his arms. She leans her head against his chest and closes her eyes, enjoying the feel of his strong, protective embrace as they rock back and forth to the soft music.

Josef kisses her deeply, thrusting his tongue into her mouth. She moans into his mouth as their tongues move against each other. He moves to nuzzle her neck and takes a deep breath, imprinting her smell in his memory. With gentle, soft kisses he moves down her neck to her collarbone, gently running his fangs across her skin. Beth throws her head back to allow him better access and her breathing becomes shallow.

His hands move to the back of her dress and he tugs at the zipper. Ever so slowly he pulls the zipper down, and as he does the dress slowly falls away from her body. Josef continues kissing and tasting her exposed skin. The dress silently falls away and puddles at Beth's feet. Josef looks down at her standing in the middle of a pool of blue cloth with nothing on but her jewelry, a lacy bra and panties, and high heels. She takes his breath away.

Beth touches her necklace. "Josef, could you help me with this?"

"Certainly." He takes her hand and leads her back to the bedroom. He stands behind her in front of the full-length mirror and gently removes her earrings one at a time. She holds out her arm for him and he gently kisses his way down to the soft underside of her wrist. She feels his fangs scrape the vein in her wrist, and she lets out a small gasp. He undoes the clasp of the bracelet and drops it on the table with her earrings.

He stands behind her again watching her body respond to him in the mirror. Beth sweeps her hair up and away from her neck and moans as Josef begins nipping and kissing her neck. His hands trace their way up her body to the clasp of the necklace, and it is swept away.

He looks up and sees her taut breast straining at her bra. Deftly, with a flick of his fingers, he parts the fastener; and Beth watches as her strapless bra floats to the floor. Her breath is shallow and rapid as his hands travel to cup her breasts. He gently teases her nipples with his fingers. She arches into his hands, loving the feel of his hands on her body. She watches the mirror as both their eyes turn to a crystal blue.

She hears him let out a low growl as his hands move to her hips, pulling her close to him. She can feel his hardness pressing against her.

He looks at her in the mirror. All she has left are her shoes and panties. He grasps one side of the delicate material and gives a sharp tug and the material floats to the floor. He smiles at the vision of her naked except for her heels. Beth starts to lean down to remove her shoes and Josef shakes his head. He kneels before her and undoes the delicate straps of her shoes. He removes her shoes and smiles up at her.

Josef starts at the sensitive spot behind her knees, and kisses his way up her body until he's standing next to her.

She pushes the suit coat off his shoulders, and it falls to the floor. She removes his tie and tosses it to the floor. She pulls out his shirt and unbuttons it. Soon it joins the pile of clothing. All the while, he is running his hands over her body. His hands feel like they are on fire next to her skin.

In one sweeping motion Josef picks her up and carries her to the bed.

Josef stands at the end of the bed looking down at her memorizing every inch of her. He strips out of the last of his clothes as she watches. He glances at her and sees the appreciative smile on her face. He moves to the bed and lies down beside her.

He gently traces her body with his fingers, feeling a shiver run through her, as he gently pushes her legs apart and slides a finger inside her wet center. Beth bucks against his hand riding the sensation.

Josef leans in and gently teases her nipple with his tongue, while his fingers explore her. He knows she's close, and he has a need to taste her. Slowly he withdraws his fingers. She lets out a moan of disappointment at the loss. He kisses his way down to her slick entrance and slowly runs his tongue between her lips. He returns his fingers to her wet insides. He continues tasting her, sucking gently on her clit. She withers under the feel of his tongue between her legs. Her enjoyment is all that matters to him at this moment. She calls out his name as she comes. His senses take in the taste and smell of her desire, and it inflames his passion for her.

Josef lets out a growl and moves up her body. He wants her, all of her, now. He moves in between her legs and enters her. Beth throws her head back into the pillow, arching her back to meet him as he begins to move against her. Both of them are panting wildly; she's moving her body to meet his, clawing the sheets with her nails. He stops, buried deep inside her. She looks up at him making small mewling sounds. "More….now….don't stop…please…don't stop."

He looks down at her. "Look at me. I want to see your eyes."

Beth stares deeply into his eyes, as he begins to thrust harder and faster. "Oh, Josef, Yeeeessssssss" Her hands move to his shoulders, and little rivulets of blood run down his shoulders as her nails rake him deeply.

Beth feels like she's going to explode as her muscles begin to contract around him. She looks deep into the eyes as she comes. She hears a primal growl deep from within Josef, of need and possession, as he fills her. It's enough to send her crashing to the edge again and again, sliding her fangs into his shoulder as he drinks her in from her neck. They stay entwined, neither one wanting to break the connection, as sleep threatens to take them both.

Both of them think._ I'm going to miss this. _

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Comments always welcome….. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick leaves for Josef's the next night, well after twilight. He wants Beth to come home as soon as possible. He's sure she knows this, so he's not worried about getting there right away. It's more important to give Josef some breathing room.

Beth's suitcases are in the front hall and her laptop is lying on top. She leans up and kisses Robert on the cheek. "If I think of anything I missed, can I call you and maybe you can get someone to bring it over?"

Robert smiles at her. "I ought to make you come get it so I can see you, but maybe that isn't such a good idea for awhile. Yes, of course, I can send anything else along. Beth, I just want to say, that all of us, the girls, myself, even your security guys are going to miss you."

Beth's eyes start to mist over. "I'm going to come out and go riding after things settle down with Mick. I promise, I'll come up to the house and see you and the girls. I'm going to miss all of you, too."

"Does Josef know you plan to come out and ride?"

Beth sighs. "Yes, we decided I should come out when he's at the office, at least for a while."

Robert shakes his head. She knows he doesn't agree with what they have worked out but that's just because he's been Josef's friend for so long, and Robert thinks that Josef and Beth should always be together.

Beth goes to find Josef in his study. "Don't sulk."

He looks at her ruefully "I'm four hundred years old. I do not sulk."

Josef hears Mick's car pull up. He crosses the room and he wraps his arms around Beth. Josef looks down at her and kisses her hard. "One year, that's all he gets, one year."

Beth smiles through unshed tears. "One year from today, and I'll be back. You just remember that."

Josef gives her a nod and starts to move away from her and she stops him. "Josef, I know how much you love me and I know how happy we've been this last year but…if you meet someone….if you find someone…all I want is for you to be happy."

"Not one chance in hell…. not one single chance in hell." He growls out at her. "Come on, let's go down and see Mick. We still have to deal with the guy locked up in the security office."

They move down the hall hand in hand. "Josef, no matter what else happens, the three of us need to be on the same page and keep each other informed on anything we find on Castillo. He could be after one or both of us, or even Mick for some reason. We just don't know, and I don't want anyone to get hurt because things are tense with you and Mick."

Josef sighs. "I know, and if it didn't involve your safety I would say screw it, but he did threaten you. Even if he does seem to be an idiot, until we know for sure, we have to be on guard. I know that Mick will keep you safe and protect you with his life, or I would insist that you stay here with me." He tugs at her hand. "Come on."

Mick gets out of the car and sees Beth's suitcases by the door. Beth grabs them before either of the men can get to them and starts to put them in the back of her car. Josef and Mick exchange a look and Beth growls at them. "You two go and interrogate your prisoner. I'm going to drive to Mick's. I do not need a driver or a babysitter." She glances at them. "I have a key, I'll only unload my laptop and I'll lock myself in." She watches them for a minute. "Feel better?"

Josef shrugs and glares at her. "You're not going to listen to anything either of us says anyway, are you?" Beth hears a touch of anger in his voice.

She knows he's still mad about last night when she didn't leave him and Castillo when he asked her to. She's managed to keep them distracted enough to get her stuff loaded into her car. "No. Until you can convince me Castillo is anything, but a blow hard, I'm doing things my way."

Mick watches the two of them stare each other down. This is an on-going fight he's sure will follow Beth no matter which one of them she's living with. Mick shrugs and decides there isn't much he can do about it now. At least for the time being, this is still Josef's fight. "I'm going down to the security office. Meet you down there." He walks away.

Josef and Beth face each other. "I don't want to leave here mad at you."

"I just want you to stay alive, so you can come back to me."

Beth looks up at him. "I'll compromise with you. I'll stay here and wait for the two of you to speak to the prisoner. If he doesn't have any new information, then I'm leaving on my own. I want to go down and see Smoky one more time before I leave anyway."

Josef sighs. "I guess it's the most I'm going to get."

Beth kisses him and walks towards the stables, not daring to look back.

Josef walks down to the security office and turns to Mick. "Let's see about this guy from last night."

Josef sees Dave sitting at the desk. Josef turns to Dave. "So, has he said anything at all?"

"Not much, just babbles about how no one can make him talk."

Josef looks at Mick. "You caught him, how old would you guess he is and does he seem like he can be intimidated?"

Mick thinks about it. "My age and yes, I think you could definitely intimidate him. He's not going to talk to me, but he was a little freaked when I mentioned you."

Mick and Josef turn back to Dave as they hear him snort. Dave looks up from his seat. "Josef, I've spent the last twenty-four hours with this guy. You should be able to scare him in your sleep. He's not a tough guy." Dave laughs. "Your reputation precedes you."

Josef shrugs, looks at Mick and walks down the hall that leads to the cell with their guest. Mick follows behind.

Josef stands at the door to the cell and lets his anger build until he sees the vamp in the cell cringe. "Let me tell you something. Someone threatened a woman that I love very much. Now you can do this the easy way and tell me what I want to know, or we can do this the slow hard way, where you end up screaming a lot."

The man in the holding cell thought about what he heard of Josef and had no desire to mess with him. Everyone knows he is ruthless. He heard Josef was four hundred years old, and you don't get to be that old by being stupid. Even at that, he never dreamed that Josef would be this powerful.

"Wha...what do you want to know?"

"What your name is and who you work for would be a good start." Josef lets his anger hang in the room.

"My name is Willy Bindle and I don't work for anyone really." Willy looks up and sees that Josef looks skeptical.

"Then why were you following Mr. St. John?"

"I heard through a friend that Lorenzo Castillo is looking for information on either of you. It's said that he will pay very well. I saw St. John and thought since he and I seem to be about the same age I might do better collecting information about him, in case I was caught."

Mick breaks in. "Was there any specifics on the kind of information that Castillo wanted?"

"Not that I heard. He just wants to gather as much information as he can."

Josef stares hard at Willy. "You're not from around here are you?"

"No, I came from Detroit. I haven't heard the same talk here at all. I've run into a couple more vamps looking to do the same thing. They were both from Chicago. Look, I don't really know anything. I just started following St. John here when he spotted me. You can tell I'm not much good at this. If you'll let me go, I'll go right back to Detroit and tell everyone I know that this is a really bad idea."

Mick and Josef look at each other. Mick shrugs. Josef turns back to Willy. "Agreed. You do what you said and you can go free." Willy starts to interrupt and Josef halts him with a look. "If I hear of you still being in town after tonight or any of my people spot you, you are dead. There won't be enough of you left to dust up. Do I make myself clear?"

Willy is afraid to even speak out loud, so he just nods. Josef motions to Dave to let the man out. "Have one of your men take him back to his car and make sure he leaves town." Dave picks up the phone and one of his men comes running. They let Willy out of the cell, and he scurries out the door.

Once the door is closed, Dave turns to Mick and Josef "We have another problem to discuss. The man that Josef sent to follow Castillo last night has reported back in. It's not good. On Castillo's way down to get his car he introduced himself to Coraline, who was arguing with her date. She got rid of the man she was with and left with Castillo. Mick you know her better than anyone, is this as bad as I think it is?"

Mick takes a deep breath. "It very well could be. Where is Castillo now? Is he still with Coraline?"

Dave nods. "Both of them are still in her apartment."

Mick thinks about it. "Get another man over there and keep an eye on both of them, even if they split up. Be careful with her. I don't know about him, but she's smart and deadly when she needs to be. If she thinks we are keeping tabs on her, you could end up with dead security people. Better to lose her than have her figure out she's being watched."

Josef and Mick leave the security office. "Well, one good sign. Castillo has to recruit from out of town. That must mean the locals are either still very loyal or they understand what is going to happen to this idiot who is trying to challenge me and have no desire to get caught in the middle. I think threatening Beth was just a miscalculation. It sounds like this is about him going after me. I'm guessing he thought he could get to me through Beth. Mick, she's going to need protecting more than ever until we get this cleared up. She went down to see Smoky while she waits to see if she really needs to have you drive her to your place. She is not going to be happy when she hears that Coraline is involved with Castillo. She's going to hate it, but I really think she needs to stay close to you until we see how this develops. If this is a power play and Coraline is involved the logical step, after what they both learned last night, is to go after Beth."

"I agree. Coraline is not someone to mess with. I thought the fear I put into her last night was enough, but you can never tell with her."

"I'll go down to the stables and see if I can talk Beth into letting you drive her back to your place. No use having her mad at both of us. I'll talk to Dave about one of his guys driving her car over later after you've left. She has a spare set in her desk, he can use those."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coraline sits up in bed with the sheet loosely wrapped around her body. She watches as Lorenzo struts around the apartment. She smiles to herself. Men are so easy to manipulate, especially the young ones. He thinks because she allowed him to sleep with her that he has her right where he wants her, when in fact, it is the opposite. He's so pleased with himself his ego won't even entertain the idea that she is using him for her own purposes. Coraline thinks a couple of weeks stroking his ego and anything else he wants and he will do whatever she wants of him without even realizing it's not his idea. He told her of his run-in with Josef. What an idiot. She will keep him busy long enough for Josef and Mick to let down their guard, and she will put Lorenzo right where she wants him.

Lorenzo looks down when his phone rings. He turns the phone off.

Coraline looks at him questioningly. He waves his hand dismissively. "My wife's mother keeps calling trying to get me to let her see her daughter."

"Your wife is human?"

Lorenzo laughs. "Yes, her father bargained her away before St. John killed him. She tastes very good. It could cause complications with people I do business with if I killed Julia, her mother, so I just let her badger me. The girl is mine, and that is that."

Coraline thinks about this. "I think we may have some use for this woman. She could get us a foot hold into Josef's power."

Lorenzo looks surprised. "How?"

"Do you think if you told her she could see her daughter she would do anything you asked?"

"Most assuredly."

Coraline smiles secretively. "Let me think about this for a little while."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef walks down through the woods to the stables. He sees Beth rubbing the horse's nose and scratching him between his ears. Smoky pushes against her hand looking for a carrot and Beth holds out her other hand flat as he takes it from her. Josef moves over to stand next to her. "He's going to miss you."

"I'll come to visit as much as I can. Is Andy still going to take care of him while I'm gone?"

"Yes, he will come down every day and make sure he has food and water and muck out his stall for him. He'll be fine." Andy is a veterinary student who Josef will pay handsomely to make sure Smoky is well cared for, while Beth is gone.

Beth turns to Josef. "You found out something didn't you? You and Mick are going to be a royal pain about it, too."

Josef snorts as he hears her statement. She knows that's exactly what is going to happen. "Yes, until we know more, you will do what Mick and I say, that was the deal you made with me...remember?" Beth reluctantly nods.

"It looks like Castillo has taken up with Coraline. You know that she hates you and would like nothing more to hurt you. Taking you is the logical thing to do. They both know how important you are to me, and then there is the bonus for Coraline of hitting Mick where it hurts the most."

Beth shakes her head. "I know and antagonizing her probably didn't help."

Josef shrugs. "Truthfully I think it would come to this at some point anyway. I would rather see her coming, than have her decide it was time and have her strike without warning. Messing with her last night might be a good thing in the long run. Now come on, Mick is waiting for you."

Beth moves to Josef's arms and hugs him tightly. "Never forget I love you."

Josef is sure if she stays much longer he's going to go very territorial and make her stay.

Josef kisses the top of her head. "Come on, unless..."

Beth starts to sniff back tears and Josef tries to wipe them away with his thumb. "Do you want to stay?" He knows the answer but feels compelled to ask.

Beth looks at him tenderly and moves to caress his face. "I want to, but I can't. This is the way it needs to be for all of us."

Josef nods. They walk arm in arm to the car. Mick has transferred her luggage to his car. Josef kisses her one more time and walks towards the house. Beth goes over and Mick opens the passenger side door for her and she gets in.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They drive through the night and Mick can smell the tears in the air. He looks over at Beth and sees her staring off into the night. They are almost home when he makes the decision. Mick pulls into his parking spot turns the car off. He turns to her. Gently he takes her hands. Beth looks at him and gives him a weak smile. Mick takes a deep breath and prepares for the worst. "If this is too hard for you I will take you back to Josef right now."

Beth thinks she loves Mick more right this minute than ever before. "No, I'll be ok. It's just…. so hard." He watches her as her hand flutters through the air. Before Mick can say anything else to comfort her, she's out of the car and heading for the elevator. Mick follows her and scoops her off her feet and takes her up to the apartment. He feels tears soaking through his shirt as she silently cries. Mick clicks the electronic key and the door swings open. He releases her from his arms, watching as she tries hard not to cry, having little success. Mick sits down on the couch and pats the seat next to him. She crawls into his arms, buries her head in his shoulder and cries.

He listens to her cry for Josef and realizes what Josef must have gone through with her when Mick left town. Holding her, listening to her heartbreak for another man and loving her…. so many emotions….

He looks down at her and her eyes are getting heavy. He moves away from her and goes to the kitchen. He pours her a glass of A positive and hands it to her. "Here you need to drink this and go get some rest." Beth nods and downs the blood. Mick takes the glass and turns to go back to the kitchen and Beth grabs his hand pulling him down to sit next to her. "I love you. I always have and I always will, but I'm going to need some time."

Mick nods and kisses her forehead. "Whatever you need."

Mick watches as she tries to curls up in the corner of the couch. "There's a freezer upstairs for you, if you want."

"Thanks. I think I'll just stay here for now. I'll go up later, but you go ahead."

Mick turns off most of the lights in the room. He grabs a light blanket and covers her. He kneels down next to the couch. "I'm going to go into the office and do some of my paperwork. Is there anything I can get you before I go?"

Beth shrugs. "No. I'm fine."

Mick watches her blink back tears as he gets up and heads for his office.

He sits at his desk and listens to her cry herself to sleep, he doesn't know what he can do to make it better.

Once he knows she's asleep, he goes in and picks her up and takes her upstairs and lays her in the bed she used to sleep in when she was human. He'd like to put her in her freezer, but at this point he's not comfortable stripping her out of her clothing and there is nothing worse than starting the day off with stiff clothes still on from the night before. One night out of the freezer isn't going to hurt her any.

He gets her settled and goes back down to the car to get her laptop and luggage, so she'll have it in the morning. He can't think of anything else to do for her that might make her more comfortable, so he heads for his freezer.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Reviews always welcome and appreciated.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to my story Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick wakes up and hopes Beth is doing better today. He thinks back to Josef's solution to their problem and thanks the heavens that this time he had enough sense to shut the hell up and follow Josef's lead. He just hopes that Beth doesn't regret it.

Mick gets up and gets dressed. He senses that Beth is just waking up. He goes downstairs to have some breakfast and wait for her.

Beth wakes up and out of habit reaches out for Josef. She senses Mick and gulps back a tear as she remembers where she is. She takes a deep breath and tries to get herself together. She examines her feelings for Mick and knows she loves him very much, but she misses Josef so much. She just has to learn to deal with it and not let it overwhelm her.

Beth gets up and she realizes Mick must have brought her up here last night after she fell asleep on the couch. She spots her luggage in the corner. She grabs some sweats to put on and realizes they are an old pair she swiped from Josef some time ago. She sits in the middle of the bed, hugging the sweats and starts to cry again. Quickly, she picks up a t-shirt and, a pair of shorts as she heads for the shower. She turns on the water, strips down and gets in. She sits at the bottom of the shower hugging her knees and cries until she just doesn't have any tears left.

Mick senses the pain she's in and shakes his head. If this doesn't start to get better in the next few days, he's taking her back to Josef, no matter what she says. He can't stand seeing her like this. He loves her too much to put her through this, no matter what they all agreed to.

She gets out, dries off and gets dressed. She goes back to the bedroom and there is a glass of AB negative sitting on the nightstand, waiting for her. She smells the glass, it's nice and fresh, not morgue blood at all She realizes she's very hungry and drinks it up. Beth takes a look in the mirror and shakes her head. It's a good thing she's a vamp; the puffiness under her eyes from crying is almost gone. She takes a deep breath and heads downstairs.

Mick sees her coming and pours her another glass of AB negative. He's betting that she's picked up that habit from Josef. He doesn't say a word, just hands her the glass. She smiles at him. "No more morgue blood?"

"No, fresh bottled is all I'm getting these days. Hope you like it. I figured you've picked up Josef's AB negative habit."

Beth laughs. "I'm not all that picky." she smiles ruefully. "It does have to be fresh, but beyond that I'm fine with whatever you get for yourself."

Mick nods. "Ok, I'll remember that. When you're done with that, I have something to show you. It's sort of a surprise for you."

Beth cocks her head at him. She shrugs and downs the blood. "Done."

Mick gently takes her hand and leads her back upstairs. Beth stops at the top and looks around. "Something is different. The configuration has changed or something."

Mick nods and leads her to a closed door. "Open it."

She does and smiles as she realizes he's had an office added for her. "Ahhhh, you didn't have to do this for me."

He sees the mile-wide smile on her face and knows he did the right thing. "You're right. I didn't have to do it, but I wanted to, for you." He looks at her tenderly and then grins back at her. "Besides, maybe it will keep you from commandeering the desk in my office."

She swats at him and laughs. "How did you do this? It doesn't seem like any other rooms are smaller."

Mick shrugs. "The magic of owning the building and having the whole floor to yourself; you can add room as you need them."

"That's right. I'd forgotten that you, we, have this whole floor to ourselves." She leans over and quickly kisses him on the cheek and gives him a small hug. "Thank you. I love it."

Mick wants to give her as much emotional space as she needs as well. "I'll be downstairs if you need anything." He turns to leave and feels her hand on his arm. He stops and turns back to her. "I do love you."

He tenderly squeezes her hand. "I know and I love you too. Now go check out your office and see what you need for it. We can go out later and get whatever you want." Beth watches him go down the stairs.

Beth sits in her new office and looks around. Space, her own space and it feels nice. She's going to have to take the time to get some things to make it hers. She knows she left some pictures here of her and Mick when she went to live with Josef. She'll have to ask Mick if he has them around somewhere. She'd like to have them on her desk. She starts to make a list of odds and ends she's going to need.

Mick hears her up in her office, setting up her laptop and moving things around. He's really glad he did this for her. He knows how much she liked having her own office at Josef's. He reaches out and senses that she's a little calmer than she was this morning. Maybe this will give her something to take her mind off of Josef.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

They've just gotten back from shopping for picture frames and office supplies. Mick thinks over his idea of taking Beth over to Jenny's. He smiles ruefully. Funny, the same woman who he gave up drinking direct for, now had him back on tap.

Beth goes over to the fridge and pours both of them a tall glass of A positive. She knows him, and he has something on his mind. "Ok, spit it out." It's the only thing she can think to say to him.

He looks at the glass in his hand.

She laughs "Not that. Whatever it is that is running around in the back of your head. I know you have something on your mind."

Mick snorts. "Ok, I was just wondering if you have ever fed from a freshie other than Josef's girls?"

Beth shakes her head. "Nope, just the girls. Why?"

"I know a place…I have this friend…her name is Jenny."

Beth narrows her eyes and lets out a low growl and Mick is surprised. "Ok, what happened? Did you and Jenny have a run in?"

Beth shakes her head. "Never met the woman in my life, but she was mean to Josef and I don't have any desire to go anywhere near her if she's mean to either of you."

Mick looks at her quizzically. "Jenny was mean to Josef? They're actually friends, despite the rivalry. Was this about a freshie they were both trying to get?"

Beth shakes her head. "No, it was about you."

Mick suddenly realizes that like Victoria, Jenny must have decided that the mess he made had been Josef's fault, and Josef, stupidly, had told Beth. "Beth, you'd like Jenny, if you gave her a chance."

Beth shakes her head. "No. I wouldn't put up with that if someone treated you that way, and I won't let her treat Josef that way either. You guys are too good to me for that. It works both ways." She crosses her arms, and as far as she is concerned it is final.

Mick shakes his head. He can't really blame her. It seems that protecting each other is what they do best. He sighs. Maybe if he can get Jenny to apologize to Josef, and get Josef to tell Beth…….. Mick thinks he might go visit Jenny later on his own and find out what the hell she said to Josef.

He really would like to take Beth to see Jenny. He's always thought they would get along now that Beth is a vamp. It would be good for her to have friends besides him and Josef and Josef's girls.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth decides to get to work. She still has a job to do. She obviously has to edit out the vamp stuff but there should still be something she can write about Castillo to put a crimp in is operation. She is going over all the old material she gathered when she was reporting on Castillo's drug and gun running the last time. She wants them; she wants the whole mess of them either vamp dead or in jail.

At least now she understands why it was so hard to get a handle on Castillo but she was able to pick off some of his men. _Damn vamp paranoia_. It makes her mad to think he used her to weed out those men that were still loyal to the Tejada family. She can't believe he used her like that and she didn't see what was happening. _Damn_

From what her contacts had said his marriage to Tajada's daughter, Elaina had been arranged. Lorenzo Castillo was apparently a big deal gunrunner in his country. He had started at the bottom as a gang leader and worked his way up to be the top guy moving guns and ammo all over South America, which was why it was so hard to understand how he had miscalculated his approach to her at the party and been so stupid when he faced Josef. She needs to remember to ask Mick about that.

Tajada was interested in branching out so he had arranged the marriage of Elaina to Lorenzo as a sign of good faith. Beth just shakes her head at what Tajada was willing to do to his daughter for power. She was glad Tajada was dead.

From what Beth could find out, Lorenzo had shown up one evening with a priest in tow and the wedding had commenced. The next day Tajada had been killed and Lorenzo stepped into the vacuum and became the leader of the operation here. No one, she had been able to get to talk to her, had seen any sign of the bride or groom since the wedding, until he showed up at the party.

Castillo was apparently giving all his orders from the shadows. He hadn't been seen in public in all that time, was it because of his paranoia or was he planning something? If, with her help he had weeded out all the old guard did that mean that the rest were human or vamp or both?

Beth thought about the young girl who had been swept up into this world, now married to a vampire. Beth wonders how much her father really knew or cared to know about his prospective son-in-law. Maybe the reason that Castillo hadn't been seen was because he was spending time with Elaina after turning her. Did he pull a Coraline and turn his new partner on their wedding night? Beth sure would like to talk to Elaina, she was sure that Elaina could be a fountain of information.

She is reviewing her contacts and trying to see who might be willing to help her for this go round. She is so absorbed in her musings that she doesn't realize Mick is looking over her shoulder reading her notes, until she senses some distress from him.

"Now, I know, good woman that your mother must have been, she must have taught you it was impolite to read over someone's shoulder." Beth doesn't need to look at him to know that's what he's doing.

Mick nods his head in agreement and then kisses the top of her head. "You're right, but my dad also taught me to protect the woman I love by any means possible, and that includes trying to find out what kind of trouble she's likely to get herself into."

Mick gently pulls her up from her desk and leads her to the couch. "Beth? No going out on your own. Gather all the information you want from home or take me along."

Beth looks at him innocently enough. "That's all I'm doing. I'm gathering information and trying to see who is still in his organization that might be of use to that end."

"Is this still about Josh? Tajada is dead and he was the one who ordered it." Mick looks down. "I never told you but I was the one that killed Tajada."

Beth snorts. "I know that I was terrible to you when Josh died, and I didn't talk to you for awhile because I was so angry at the way I had treated Josh, but even I could figure out what happened to Tajada. Yes, I guess it's still about Josh. Maybe if I'd been as loyal to him as I am to you and Josef, he might not have died wondering if I still loved him."

"Beth, he knew you loved him. He was going to ask you to marry him."

"I wish I thought that was true. I think he was going to ask me to marry him as a last ditch effort to keep me from slipping away, because he knew even then that's what I was doing. I was slipping away to you. Even then I loved you. I just didn't know how much. This is my vendetta. This guy is as bad as Tajada or worse because he's one of ours, and now he may be teaming up with Coraline." She looks down at her hands. "It's my distraction. I need this right now. You and Josef are working your sources and I want to work mine."

Mick sighs. Unlike Josef he knows the folly of trying to stop her. "I'm not going to try to stop you, but I want your word that you will let me know everyday what you have found out and what you have planned for the next step. If you need help, that's fine, we'll work it out, but you have to promise to keep me in the loop. If you are leaving to meet with contacts I will go with you." She doesn't say anything. Mick reaches out and puts his arm around her and pulls her back against him. He puts a hand under her chin and gently makes her look up at him. "Beth, promise me or I will shadow you day and night and you know I can. This is dangerous, I don't want you hurt."

"That's blackmail." Mick doesn't hear the warning signs of anger in her voice. He's forgotten already that just over a year later she can still be a little volatile with her temper.

"You're damn right, now promise me. I'm trying to meet you half way here."

"Making me take you to protect me is not meeting me half way. As usual with you and Josef, it's your way or no way. I probably wouldn't mind so much if you guys wouldn't make such a big deal about it. It's irritating. Like I'm so helpless. How about if I deal with the human elements on my own and take you to help with the vamp variety?"

Mick scowls at her. "Please, just for now, please let's do this together. If it were anyone except Coraline I might agree, but she really has it in for you."

Beth knows he's right. "Ok, this time, but the next time we have some big bad enemy we renegotiate this agreement."

Mick nods. "Just as long as we are on the same page about Coraline."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Josef comes down the stairs with a small carry-on bag in his hand. Robert looks at him questioningly. "Where you headed?"

"Vegas. The weekend is finally here and I just noticed the date. There is a car show along the strip. There is a special exhibit of concept cars that I'd like to see. I think maybe it's good timing to get away for a few days."

Robert nods. "Not a bad idea. See you when you get back."

Josef heads out the door and throws the bag in on the passenger's seat in the Ferrari and heads for the desert.

All Josef hears is the roar of the engine as he pushes the peddle to the floor. He watches the gauges and shifts up to the next gear. He knows if he can go fast enough, if he can get to the top end of what his car will do, he will have to forget everything, but what is right in front of him-- tunnel vision. Everything else will fade away for just a bit, and she won't be in every pore of his body making him ache. He smiles to himself, _the need for speed. _

He has to admit; one good thing about living this long is getting to drive cars like this. He loves the roar of the engine and the world rushing by. After four hundred years, few things are as exhilarating as driving this fast. He doesn't do this very often, but now and then, he just needs to let loose and do something incredibly dangerous and stupid, this is it. No one knows he does this. Not Mick, not Robert and certainly not Beth. He smiles as he thinks about her. She'd stake him to keep him from doing something this crazy. He misses her so much. It's going to be a long year.

Josef doesn't see the cacti rushing by the window. He doesn't see the sand, tumbleweeds or the gophers.

He doesn't see one particular gopher, and this one is about to make his life miserable. He thinks back and figures when he made road kill out of the gopher the Ferrari was redlined at 170 mph.

The Ferrari jumps and he can feel it spin through the air. All that comes to his mind is "Shit, well dumb ass, your luck finally ran out." He rides out the spin, waiting for the inevitable bang when it finally comes back to Earth. _Gravity is a bitch_. While he knows this was a stupid exercise, he is thankful that he wasn't in complete idiot mode. This car was built for racing. It has an enforced cage for the driver and a way to get out if lands upside down. It also has a fuel system that keeps fire to a minimum and hopefully from reaching the driver. So with any luck, he won't be trapped in a flaming car without any way to get out.

Later, Ryder will dub this Josef's "Wile E. Coyote " moment.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**As always reviews make me a happy camper. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Mick hits the stairs at a dead run. He doesn't know what's wrong, but the sounds coming from Beth aren't anything he's ever heard a vampire make. He runs in the door and she's on the floor rolled up in a ball hugging herself. Mick crouches next to her. Her eyes are unfocused, and even though she's quieted she's still making soft whimpers of pain. He picks her up, takes her into the bedroom and lays her on the bed. He gently shakes her. If he can just bring her out of this maybe he can stop whatever is hurting her. Finally she comes out of her trance, stares at him with dull eyes and then falls into a deep sleep. It's almost like she's unconscious.

Mick sits next to her rubbing her back trying to comfort her, while he calls Josef. There is no answer. He redials the mansion and Robert answers. "Robert, where's Josef? It's an emergency. I need to talk to him now."

"He's on his way to Vegas. There's a car show on the strip. He wanted to get away for the weekend. It sounded like a good idea. Maybe he stopped to eat. You know how he hates to be interrupted when he's eating. What's the matter? Is it anything I can help with?"

"It's Beth." Mick tells Robert what happened. "Do you know if this has ever happened before?"

"Never. I have a bad feeling about this. From what you describe, it sounds like something has happened to Josef. What I didn't tell you is he took his new F430 Ferrari and that thing is built for only one thing, speed. If he's racked it up in the desert then she may be feeling his pain. She's still young enough that she's still not completely disengaged from Josef's feelings. It would take a great deal of pain, but if there was enough she might still feel it."

"Shit. So, he's at it again. I should have known this would be enough to get him started again. He still has no idea we know he drives like a maniac when hits a certain stress point, does he?"

Robert snorts. "No. He thinks it's a big secret."

"I better see if I can find him. I need you to send one of the security guys over and have him bring Emily with him. I want someone here that Beth knows. Have them bring that new Escalade of his. He was bragging to me not long ago how fast the damn thing is. The field of vision is going to be better on something that sits that high. If he's in bad enough shape I may need the room for him to lay down. I'll hit the desert looking for him. I'll call Ryder and see if he can get any GPS signals from the car or Josef's cell. "

"Mick, I'll come. Em is not a good choice if Beth goes vamp from the pain and starts looking for blood. Beth and I are friends. I'll bring one of Dave's regular guys; she knows most of them pretty well. We'll be there as soon as we can." And the line goes dead.

Mick pulls up Ryder's number. "Josef may be in trouble. He's most likely on the 15 between LA and Vegas. See if you can get anything on his cell."

"Mick, which car is he driving? He has trackers on almost all of them."

"Robert said it was a new one, a F430 Ferrari."

"Damn, I don't have a listing for that one. I'll call Jack and see if they had a chance to tag it, but didn't tell me the codes for a trace. I'll get back to you as soon as I have anything." Mick hangs up.

Mick swears softly to himself. _Damn it Josef. What the hell were you thinking?_

Mick continues to sit next to Beth hoping for some change. There doesn't seem to be anything he can do for her. She's not waking up; he doesn't know if her body is trying to protect itself or if she's in tandem with Josef and he's in the same shape. It's almost like she is unconscious except for the small whimpers that escape her. He doesn't want to leave her, but he has to see if he can find a way to stop the pain. The best guess at this point, on how to do that seems to be finding Josef. Mick hears the door. He zips down and opens it. Robert enters with Bill, one of Beth's regular security guys. Bill hands Mick the keys. "It's gassed and ready to go. There is a cooler marked perishable hospital supplies in the back in case he's hurt."

"Thanks." Mick turns to Robert. "Come with me." Robert follows him, up to where Beth is laying. "I can't do a damn thing for her here. It's almost like she's unconscious." He turns to Robert. "Take care of her." Robert nods.

Mick bends over and kisses Beth on the forehead. He gently moves a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I'll be back as soon as I can end this for you." He kisses her again. "I love you."

Mick heads for the stairs. "I'm gone. If you hear anything, call."

Mick is on his way to I-15 headed for Vegas before he knows it. He wonders how far Josef got. The road between Los Angeles and Vegas is about 250 miles, a lot of it desert. Mick remembers the last time he was out this way, he was with Lennie and this is way past Victorville. At least it's early in the night. With any luck the he will find him before daybreak."

Josef grasps for conciseness. He knows something bad has happened, but he can't remember what it is. He tries to sense Beth and for a moment there is pain and then nothing. This scares him enough to give him the strength to break through the fog. He opens his eyes and looks around him. He sees the twisted metal all around him and remembers that Beth isn't with him; she is at Mick's. He reaches out for her again, hoping that maybe he was wrong about the pain he felt returning from her, he wasn't. _Damn._ He tries to shut her out, but loses consciousness. Later, he fights through again, tries to move his legs and feels white-hot pain. Shit, this is going to take a few days in a freezer and several pints to get healthy again. The question is how to get out of here.

Mick flips his phone open. "Ryder?"

"Yea, it's taken some doing, but I found a signal from the car. His cell must be toast. Not getting anything from that. You should come upon the wreckage in about another fifty miles. Mick, I sent out a clean up crew to take care of the wreckage, just in case. If it's really bad, it won't be hard to figure out who owns that car. If anyone else finds it, and Josef is alive, they are going to wonder how he walked away from it. Those are questions he's not going to want to answer."

"Good idea. I'll call you when I find something."

Now that Mick doesn't have to look for wreckage, he pushes the accelerator to the floor trying not to follow Josef into the desert landscape.

Robert sits next to Beth. Her arms and legs straighten out and she lets out a scream that has both he and Bill clamping their hands over their ears to try and block it out. Vamp hearing isn't meant be subjected to that kind of scream. He looks down as she goes completely limp. Robert hates to see Beth in this kind of pain, but it may mean that Josef is at least still alive if she's feeling something.

A little later he sees her eyes flutter open and she manages to focus on him. "Robert?"

"Ssshhh. You need to keep your strength up. Drink this." Beth slowly drinks the glass of blood.

"Josef….is Josef ok? I need to see him."

Robert watches helplessly as she starts to cry. "I'm sure he's fine. Mick will find him. Now you go back to sleep. I'll wake you if Mick calls."

Beth tries to move but she hurts all over. "Robert, he's not ok. Please, find him. Tell Mick to hurry." She starts whimpering again.

"Beth, I'm going to put you in your freezer. I'll stay close and tell you as soon as we hear from Mick. He'll find Josef, you know he will." Beth nods and Robert strips her out of her clothes and takes her in and puts her in her freezer. He's hoping she will rest easier.

Mick pulls up when he starts to see the litter of twisted metal all over the desert floor. He tries to decide which side of the highway to start on and figures that he'll start on the side with the most debris. It doesn't take long and he sees the cage the driver sits in and he sees a body inside. Mick can sense Josef is still alive. He jogs over to see how badly he's hurt. Mick kneels next to the cage and sees Josef's eyes flutter open. "Mick?"

"Yea, Josef, it's me. I'm going to get you out of there, but I'm going to go back and get a pint for you first. We need to get the healing started."

Josef nods and passes out again.

Mick gets back to the road where the Escalade is parked and a large semi pulls up. The Cleaner jumps down the from the passenger side and comes around to Mick. "Is he alive?"

"Yes, but I have a hunch he's going to wish he was dead with Beth gets a hold of him." Mick shakes his head. "I've got to get some blood in him so he can start healing. You better come take a look at the roll cage he's in and see if you have any idea how to get him out. The damn thing is half buried in the sand."

Be there in a minute. The rest of Victoria's crew pulls up and Mick sees it's more than the usual three of four; this is more like fifteen, must be everyone she employees. She starts giving them orders on the clean up, while Mick gets the blood out of the back. She returns with a pair of vamps that are huge. Mick looks at them and then looks back at her. "Weight lifters." is all she says. The four of them jog out to where Mick found Josef. Mick reaches through the bars and tries to get Josef to wake up and take the blood. When that doesn't work; Mick pulls a syringe out of his pocket and fills it. He can get in far enough to push the needle into Josef's arm and get him the needed blood. Mick does this a few more times while Victoria and her guys walk around the cage trying to figure out how to get Josef free.

While they continue to look the situation over Mick flips his phone open. "Robert, he's alive but trapped in the wreckage. Ryder called Victoria, so she's out here to clean up the wreckage and she and her guys are trying to figure out how to free him. I got a pint into him. How's Beth?"

He watches Victoria and the two men making motions and discussing the situation.

Robert sighs into the phone "At least some good news. Mick, I had to put her in her freezer. She was in so much pain. I've been watching her and she seems to be a bit better."

"Ok, well if we can get him out and fed hopefully she will get better. I have to go. Can you call Ryder and update him?"

"Sure."

Robert opens Beth's freezer and sees her give him a weak smile. "Mick found him."

Robert nods and shuts her freezer door.

Mick turns back to Victoria. Mick sees each of the men taking a hold of a bar on the side of the cage. Mick walks over and Victoria explains, "We think this is the weakest place on the frame. The problem is that it's hard to get traction."

Mick snaps his fingers. "I have an idea. One of you come with me." The larger of the men lets go of the cage and follows Mick to a large boulder. "If we put this between you can you brace against it?"

The man smiles at Mick. "Yep." Is all he says and picks up the huge rock and puts it down between them. They both grasp the bars again and push against the rock from both sides with their legs and pull on the bars. The metal bends easily once they have some leverage.

Victoria moves towards the opening. "Let me see if I can get him out and hand him to you. It's not that big an opening because of the cross braces.

Victoria leans in and sees that Josef's legs are twisted in a couple of directions they weren't meant to go. "Mick, I can get him out; but, man, is it going to hurt."

"Victoria, did I mention that Beth seems to be feeling the same things Josef is?"

"Oh, crap. Mick, it can't be helped. I'll do it as gently as I can, but there are just no two ways about it, it's going to hurt. You better alert whoever is with her."

Mick calls Robert and explains the situation. "Ok, I'm going to pull her from the freezer. Bill and I will hold on to her so she can't hurt herself. Give us a couple minutes."

Mick relays the information to Victoria who crawls through the hole in the cage. She looks at Mick, and he nods for her to continue. She kneels down next to Josef and cuts the seatbelt. He opens his eyes and looks at her. "Hey, Vick."

She smiles at him. "Hey Josef. This is going to hurt." He nods and she puts an arm under his legs and another behind his back and lifts. He lets out a single cry and passes out again. Victoria stands and hands him through the hole in the bars to Mick. Mick turns to find the two weight lifters standing there with a stretcher between them. Mick gently lays Josef down and they carry him back to the Escalade.

Victoria flips the microphone down on her headset and calls for Annie. Mick sees a small compact woman with wild purple hair jogging towards them. Victoria turns to Mick. "I'm sending Annie back with you. She can keep an eye on him and keep him from moving around and keep his IVs full. If Beth is getting feedback off his pain, you won't want to drive any faster than you have to. You don't want him bouncing around. Annie can try to keep him steady."

Mick nods. "Thanks. Let's get him loaded and go."

Robert and Bill hold on tight to Beth, but she doesn't move hardly at all. Also she seems to have stopped whimpering with pain.

Robert lays her back in her freezer. He answers the ringing phone. "Robert, how did she do?"

"She's actually much better. I think on some level Josef must have realized what was happening and stopped it."

"Good. Do you think you can bundle her up and bring her out to the mansion? He's going to be in his freezer for several days, and I'm sure she's going to want to be there so you might as well take her home and put her in her freezer at the mansion."

Robert nods to himself. "We'll meet you there."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick goes into the kitchen to find Robert pouring a glass for Beth. He glances at Mick. "I'm sorry for the bad time I gave you over Beth going to live with you. I know the three of you care for each other a great deal, and I should have kept my mouth shut." When Mick told Robert to take Beth back to the mansion so she could be with Josef while he was healing, Robert knew that Mick was, as usual, more concerned about everyone but himself, and felt bad about what he had said the night of the party.

"It's ok. Don't worry about it. Hey, I'm going home to clean up and change clothes. Can you ask Dave if I can borrow one of his guys to drive me home, so that I can pick up my car and not have to worry about having one of Josef's at my place? Also, I'd like to take that up to Beth so I can let her know I'm going to be gone for a while."

Robert nods and hands him the glass. "Done."

Mick climbs the stairs. He finds Beth right where she's been the last twenty-four hours, next to Josef's freezer reading a book. She can't do anything for him, but she won't leave him either. She looks up as he approaches. "You know, if it was you in there I'd still be sitting right here."

Mick smiles at her and hands her the glass. "I know. I'm going home to clean up. I'm going to take care of a few things and then I'll be back. Do you want me to bring you some clothes or anything else? You might try to get a little time in your freezer. You know if he wakes up, you'll feel it."

Beth nods. "I might try to lay down if I get tired, but so far I'm to wired. You could bring me my laptop and my purse. I'm fine for clothes. I'll see you when you get back." He notices she's in a pair of Josef's sweats. He leans down to kiss her cheek, and she turns her head and kisses him on the lips. "Thank you for saving him. It never stops amazing me how wonderful you are. You're my hero." He steps back and smiles a little in surprise. He's never going to quite understand women.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Reviews always make me a happy camper. :)**


	15. Chapter 15

Mick pulls up and asks for Jenny at the door and is told to go on in

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Beth wakes up in her freezer and tries to remember how she got there. Last thing she remembers was sitting next to Josef's freezer. She can't sense any change from Josef, but she still goes directly to see how he is. She finds Mick sitting in her chair, reading, and a glass of blood next to him. He looks up from his book, "Hi."

Beth looks down through the glass of the freezer and then back at Mick. "Hi. How did I end up in my freezer?"

"I came back and you were asleep in the chair drooling on yourself and I thought maybe you'd get less messy if you were in a freezer." He laughs at the horrified look on her face.

She laughs "You're evil."

He grins at her. "Nice to see a smile on your face. So, I sat right here and made sure if he woke up, someone would be here to tell you. That way, you could rest. Beth, seriously, even a vamp can only go so long without rest."

The smile is gone, and she watches Josef through the glass. "I know; I just can't leave him."

Mick looks down into the freezer, "He should regain consciousness today. His injuries are healing faster all the time and while he hasn't woken up, every once in while I can feel him reaching out, trying to."

Beth smiles at the prospect. "I hope you're right."

Mick is right. About midnight, Mick feels waves of joy radiating out from Beth, and then he senses Josef waking up. Mick and Robert go upstairs to find Josef sitting up in his freezer. Beth is wedged in the freezer with him, hugging him tightly, crying with relief. Josef is trying to hold on to her, but Mick can see the pain on Josef's face. Mick gently pulls at her arm. "Beth, he needs to rest and he's not done healing." She reluctantly lets Mick move her away from Josef. Josef tries to talk and nothing comes out. Robert hands him a glass of blood. He downs it in one gulp. Mick walks over and removes the IV line from his arm.

Josef smiles at them. "Nice to see you all again, too."

Beth rocks back and forth on her heels, tears streaming down her face. She walks over gently kisses him and leaves the room. Josef sadly watches her leave. Mick looks at Josef. "Nice to have you back. Ah, I think I should go see how she's doing. She's been sitting here pretty much non-stop since we brought you in."

Mick sees the regret on Josef's face for causing all of them trouble. He tries to speak, but not much comes out, his voice is a little rusty. Mick holds up his hand. "Don't worry about it. We'll talk later. Just get well."

Mick leaves, to find Beth picking up the few things she's got with her. He leans in the doorway and watches her movement. It's like watching a self-contained bomb waiting to explode. Now that Josef is out of the woods and awake, she's switched gears and she's pissed. Mick shrugs; he wouldn't wish this fury on anyone. "You know, we don't have to leave if you don't want to."

"Nope. Time to go. He's awake, and he'll be fine. That's all that matters for now."

Mick hears the 'for now' and shakes his head.

"Ok, let me know when you're ready and we'll leave."

Beth waits for a bit, and when she can sense that Josef has gone back to sleep she walks into his room and looks down at him in the freezer. She stands there watching him, tears splashing down on to his freezer. She dries her eyes and leaves the room, not knowing if she will ever return. After she leaves, Josef opens his eyes and sighs. He has no idea how he's going to fix this.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coraline likes her men headstrong and passionate. She thinks of Mick, and wonders how she had misjudged him so badly. He was passionate, that was never the problem and in the beginning very headstrong. He was very smart and very handsome, all the things any woman would want, but he had a streak of compassion that she had not seen until it was too late. It was what Josef had tried to point out to her when he told her that Mick was going to make a lousy vampire. Even with all of that, it may have been ok if not for Beth. Coraline hates that Beth is a constant reminder of how that kidnapping had been the turning point that turned Mick against her for good. Now, to have that same small child grow up to be his lover made her blood boil. Beth was right; if not for Coraline she would never have met Mick or Josef.

Coraline hates to admit it, but Lorenzo is starting to grow on her. She's never going to be in love with him, but she'd rather he not end up dead. Like Beth, she wonders how Lorenzo got to be at the top of his country's gun running and know so little of the world. He seems to be a fast learner, but he has no real idea about vampire culture and the world in general. She watches him sitting across from her on the deck at his apartment. "Lorenzo, besides me and Josef, who is the oldest vampire you have ever met?"

He shrugs. "Myself. Until I came to this country, I was the oldest vampire I had ever even heard of."

"What about your sire?"

"My sire was killed by superstitious natives before she was my age; she was killed just after I was a year old."

Coraline thinks about this for a little while. It explains a lot. "How many vampires did you know before you came to this country?"

"A dozen, who were all much younger than me. To go into Kostan's party and see so many of our kind in one place was amazing."

Coraline moves over and sits in his lap. "I want you to think about something and we will talk about it later. We agree that I am older have more power than you do because of it."

Lorenzo makes a face, but nods.

"Don't go all macho on my darling. It's just the way it is with our kind. I think that part of your problem is your lack of a long-time sire to teach you about vampires and our culture." He starts to interrupt and she kisses him so he will stop. "I would like to teach you things that you didn't have a chance to learn because you have been so isolated from our people. It will help you deal with Josef and Mick and help you gain the power you seek. I know what you want and if you want me to help you, then you will need me to teach you to deal with men such as Josef. You won't like this, but you will never be his equal, he has a hell of a jump on you age-wise, but that doesn't mean you can't best him." _And I can get my revenge in the bargain. _"I have an idea that will snare us a bargaining chip or two. I think it's time you had a little heart to heart chat with your mother in law."

Lorenzo narrows his eyes at her. "How is it you know so much about these men? You seem to know them well."

Coraline snorts. "I have known Josef almost two hundred years. He was a friend of sorts at one time. As for Mick, well, I was married to him, and I am his sire." Coraline laughs as she hears Lorenzo give out a low growl. "Jealous? Don't be. Mick has made sure to kill any feelings I may have once had for him. He and Josef are both under the spell of that bitch you spoke to the night of the party. All I want is to hurt them like they have hurt me."

Lorenzo shakes his head. "I still do not understand this relationship they have with the woman. It makes no sense to me. If they love her so much, then why share and if they don't, then why defend her? If they care so much, why have they not killed each other? From what I know of them neither would hesitate to kill if the need arose. So, why not kill for her?"

Coraline shrugs. "They are close, closer than most brothers and they know that if either of them were to harm the other they would never see her again. It's the only thing that makes any sense to me. Now, you think about what I said. I would like to help you gain the power you desire and maybe inflict a good bit of pain on those three."

Lorenzo nods and gives her a look full of desire. "I will think about it and, as you say, we can talk about it later." He stands up in one smooth motion taking Coralline to bed as she nips and licks at his neck.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Four days later, Josef is as good as new. He finds Robert in the kitchen. "Has Beth called?"

"I was just coming in to tell you she's on her way over. Mick is going to drop her off."

Beth walks in the study and stands in the doorway watching him. Josef leans back in his chair and stares right back at her. Josef smiles to himself when he thinks of the vampires that would wither under such glare, and there she is not even blinking, staring right back at him. That fire is one of the things he loves the most about her; this is a woman who will go down fighting.

Slowly, without looking away, he gets up from his chair and approaches her. He gets into her personal space his lips inches from hers. He catches sight of her hand seconds before she connects, and he dodges the slap that was intended for his face. "You lousy rotten bastard. You think you can charm me after what you did to me? You think so little of me that I will just fall into your arms again like nothing happened?"

He lets out a sigh. He knew she was mad; he just hoped it wasn't going to be this bad. "Beth, I'm sorry you got caught in the backlash of the pain I was in. I shut you out as soon as I could. I'm sorry."

She stands across the room from him, eyes flashing as her control slips back and forth. "I should stake you where you stand."

_Of course fire has its down side when it's directed at you._

Josef narrows his eyes at her. "What the hell is your problem? I'm the one that spent a week laid up? I'd think you'd be happy to see me alive. I thought you loved me."

Beth turns and walks towards the front door, and he walks after her. He grabs her arm to turn her around to face him and she shows him her fangs. "You touch me and I'll hurt you. You don't even understand why I'm mad. To hell with you."

Now his temper is starting to get the better of him. "Baby, the day you can hurt me, is the day I'm already dead." But he lets go of her. "I asked this once before, but what the hell is your problem?"

Beth grits her teeth, trying very hard not to scream at him in frustration.

She lets her pain fuel her anger. "You want to know what my problem is? You scared me half to death. I knew something really bad had happened to you, and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even tell anyone that you were in trouble. All I could do is feel it. I can't believe after all the crap you and Mick are forever giving me about keeping me safe you do something so undeniably stupid"

The fear for him flashes back at her, and she has to fight to keep it at bay. Josef feels it as it hits her; he feels her fight off the panic before it engulfs her. He watches her and sees her composure is on the verge of crumbling. "You scared me. I thought I was going to lose you. It hurt so badly. Mick and Robert thought I was getting feedback from your pain. It wasn't just that. I was terrified for you. You were out there alone, we didn't know where, and no one could help you. Josef, you always are telling me that I have to stay safe because it would kill you if something happened to me, and then you do something this stupid. You know how much it would hurt me if you died, and you don't even give a shit." She starts for the door again. "And you know damn well, I love you."

Josef hears everything she's saying, and the anger is replaced by feelings of guilt for what he'd put her through. He watches as she starts to move towards the door. "Beth, please don't leave. Please don't go. We have to fix this."

She shakes her head and tries to keep walking. He thinks her knees are going to buckle, so he quickly moves to her and scoops her up and sets her on the couch. He sits next to her. He gently strokes her hair and whispers to her "I'm sorry, for scaring you. You're right. It was stupid, and I should be more careful. I love you. Please forgive me."

"Josef, what were you doing? What were you thinking?"

Josef looks down. He hates admitting that he can have moments when he doesn't have iron control. He doesn't really want to tell her about any of it; he sure as hell doesn't want to tell her he was trying to wipe her out of his head for a little while. "I don't know. I guess I just wasn't thinking."

"Bullshit." He hears the anger in her flair up again. "You're always two steps ahead of everyone else. Don't give me that crap."

He looks down for a minute. "You're not going to let me get away without a real answer, are you?"

"No. I need to know you're ok. Josef, you didn't get to four hundred by being stupid. This isn't like you. If Mick and Ryder hadn't been able to get you on the GPS, we might have lost you. Hell, no one would have even known anything was wrong if I hadn't gone into a tailspin, and you could have sat there in the sun until you combusted into vamp dust. Mick told me how they found you. You were trapped, too hurt to help yourself and sunrise was just a few hours away."

Josef makes a mental note to kick Mick's ass.

He takes a deep breath. "Sometimes, when I get to my limit, I do this; I get in a car and drive as fast as I can. I get in the fastest car I own and push it to the limit. If it hadn't been for the damn gopher it would have been fine." He looks at her and can see her anger rising up again. He puts a finger to her lips to quiet her. "Look, I know it's stupid and dangerous, but it's the only way I can block out whatever is making life crazy. I usually do it once and every thing is fine, then I can face whatever put me in that car in the first place."

She looks at him sadly. "Like me."

"Yes, baby, like you. It's ok now though. I'm fine, and I won't do it again." _At least for a couple years_.

Beth leans her forehead against his shoulder, trying to think this through. Josef leans away from her a little and lightly puts his fingers under her chin. He looks deep into her eyes. She can see the desire in his eyes. He wants her so much. He leans in and kisses her. Beth realizes what's happening and puts her hand against his chest to break the kiss. She shakes her head. "No."

Josef can sense that she wants him as much as he wants her. He doesn't understand and looks at her in confusion. She's never said no to him before. "Beth, are you still mad? Can't you forgive me?"

"It's not that. Josef, remember, I don't live here anymore; I'm not with you. For the first time ever it would feel wrong and I won't have that. I love you too much and I love Mick too much for that."

He lets out a soft groan. "Remind me again, whose idea it was for you to leave me?"

She smiles at him. "Yours. You were doing what was best for everyone, remember?"

He shakes his head. "What a dumb shit." He smiles tenderly at her. "I'm never that selfless. Mick must have caught me on an off day." He's glad to see she's smiling at him again, and the anger seems to have evaporated. "Forgive me for being an idiot?"

She caresses his face. "As long as I know you're going to be ok, and you promise me that no matter what, the next time you get the urge to do this you'll call me first. I may not be able to talk you out of it, but at least I'll know you're out there and can make sure we don't lose you in the desert."

He nods. "Ok, I promise, if you don't tell anyone that I do this, not Mick and not Robert. They don't need to know this was anything other than a one time incident."

Beth nods. "That's fine; this is between us. Now you're going to be ok?"

Josef takes a deep breath. "Yes, I'll be fine." He gives her a smile full of desire. "Although I'd be better if I could have what I want." He looks at her speculatively, trying to decide if she's going to try and slap him again, and gives a mental shrug. "Besides I know you're not sleeping with Mick, yet."

Beth narrows her eyes at him. "How?"

He smiles at her. "I, both of us, will always know. It's a territorial thing with male vampires."

Beth smirks at him, "Well, the operative word in your sentence is, yet."

Josef flinches. "I guess I had that coming."

She nods. "Yes, you did."

She looks at him and softly he hears her say. "I might get to that point if some pain in the ass four hundred year old problem child would straighten up and fly right." Beth gently strokes his face. "Josef, I love you, but if I sleep with you now…….then we go back to where we were before, only worse, and you know it would end really badly. Please…. Let's just finally let go for a year. It's time."

He sighs. "Alright."

"You'll stay alive so I can come back to you? No more stupid stunts?"

Josef grabs her and lets out a small growl and kisses her. She returns the kiss and when they break apart she tenderly smiles at him. "Good-bye Josef. I love you and, yes, you're forgiven."

He watches her leave and realizes that, for the first time in four hundred years, time and the future need to be considered and counted for something besides money and power

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Reviews always make me happy. :)  
**


	16. Chapter 16

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Josef looks down at the phone

Mick decides it's time to do something to clear up the problem between Beth and Jenny, but first he has to talk to Jenny and find out what started all of this.

Mick walks up, asks for Jenny at the door, and is told to go on in. Mick wonders down the hall and smiles when he sees Jenny. "Mick, nice to see you. Heard you were back in town. Come; sit at the bar with me. Have a scotch." She smiles at him slyly, "Heard you were back on tap."

He looks at her questioningly "From?"

Jenny laughs. "Mick, my friend, the freshies adore you for a reason, and they do love to talk."

Mick looks a little embarrassed and Jenny just laughs at him. "So, can I offer you more to drink then just a scotch? How about some A negative, fresh from the source?"

"Maybe later. I want to talk to you about something else, something to do with Josef."

Jenny looks uncomfortable. "Ah, yea. I sort of talked out of turn."

"I'm not worried about Josef. You two can work out your own problems. I'm more concerned about Beth. Whatever you said to him, he told her, and she's pissed." Jenny starts to interrupt and Mick stops her. "Listen, she's living with me and I want to bring her here. She's never fed from any freshies but Josef's girls. She's just over a year old, and I wanted to be the one to bring her here, but whatever you said has got her madder than hell."

Jenny sighs. "I heard you were in New York, going through the local female vamp population pretty damn quick, and I heard Beth was living with Josef." She shrugs "I called and gave him hell for making you leave and living with Beth. He sort of set me straight, but by that time the damage was done."

Jenny narrows her eyes at Mick. "If Beth is living with you, what's it to her, what I said to Josef?"

"Well for one thing he's her sire. Look, it's complicated, but she is very protective of both of us. She's not too happy with the idea of anyone giving Josef or me a bad time."

Jenny reluctantly nods her head. "Ok, I'll give her that. Why do I have the feeling, though that there is more to it than that?"

"There is, but it's nobody's business. All three of us are happy and that is all that matters."

Jenny sighs, "What can I do to fix this?"

"Call Josef and apologize."

"Actually I did a couple weeks ago. Maybe you could get Josef to mention it to Beth."

"That was about the time she was moving back in with me, so he didn't get a chance to tell her."

"You know, I wondered why he seemed distracted when I called. Do I have to start worrying about Josef now? What is it with this particular woman and you two?" Jenny gently puts her hand on his arm. "If she's anything like Coraline, please don't; if she's playing you two off of each other…"

Mick jerks his arm away and lets out a low growl as he flashes his fangs at her. He turns and starts to walk away. Jenny is in front of him in a flash, with her hand on his chest trying to stop him. "I'm sorry. I just don't know her and apparently I made another bad assumption. Please let me apologize before this gets out of hand. I should not have compared her to Coraline."

Mick looks at her warily, "Can we go to your office?"

"Yes, of course."

Mick follows her to the office where they both sit. "You're the second female vamp I've had jump to a bunch of conclusions about a woman that neither of you knows, and it's starting to piss me off." She starts to interrupt and he growls, so she shuts up. Jenny has to admit that she wouldn't care if this was most people, but she'd always had a soft spot for Mick and Josef. They were closer to each other than most brothers, and she liked that bond. You see so little of that in this community. It showed insight, she thought, into both their personalities.

"I said I was sorry. Mick, come on."

Mick sighs, "I suppose this will get out sooner or later. I would like you to keep it to yourself, until I can talk to Josef and Beth."

Jenny nods at him to continue.

"We worked out an arrangement,-- we had to. The way we were going was killing all three of us. Beth lived with Josef for a year and now she's going to live with me for a year, and then back to Josef for a year and on…. until one of us calls it quits."

Jenny sits there smiling. "I have got to meet this woman. She's got the two most eligible vamps in the state taking turns from one year to the next for her?"

Mick laughs. "You know, you could ask her about it, but she would tell you both of us are crazy because there is absolutely nothing special about her. I know one thing, if she thought either of us would be happier with someone else that would be fine with her, because she just wants us to be happy. She loves us both very much. How do you argue with a woman who loves you that much? No, this one is about as far away from Coraline as you can get."

Mick continues, "And no, you don't have to worry about either of us." _Now that Josef's gotten the worst of it out of his system. _"Both of us will be just fine. He knows in a year she'll back with him. It's nice to have something to look forward to, I would imagine especially, so if you're four hundred years old"

Jenny looks puzzled "Why keep this quiet? Who cares what anybody thinks?"

Mick looks ruefully at her. "Probably me. Beth is very much like Josef. I doubt if it would bother her in the least. Josef won't care, but I think I owe him a heads up because of his position in the community."

Jenny shrugs, "Fine with me. Now, on to fixing things with Beth. Call Josef and ask him about what he wants to tell people and, while you're at it, ask him to tell Beth that I apologized so she can come to lunch or whatever."

Mick smiles, "I'll do that. I'll call you when I get things straightened out." He heads home.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick gets to the apartment and finds a woman waiting for him in front of his office. He doesn't really want to do this now, but he can sense her distress.

Beth is back in her office trying to find an angle on Castillo and Coraline. She wants to run a couple of ideas by Mick and heads down to his office. She so deep in thought that she doesn't try to sense if he has a client, so she's surprised when she enters the office and a pretty dark haired woman is sitting across the desk from him. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't think." And she starts to back out of the office. Mick gets up and beckons her back into the room. Mick puts his hands on her shoulders and looks closely at her. "Beth, this is Julia Tajada she would like to hire me."

Beth takes an involuntary step back and her eyes get big, her hand flies to her mouth. The woman looks down at her hands folded in her lap and then looks up at Beth. "I'm sorry for what my husband did to Mr. Lindsey. I read from the papers that you were going to be engaged. I'm so sorry."

Beth is speechless. She just turns to Mick. "Mrs. Tajada would like me to find her daughter."

Mick watches Beth and realizes this has hit her very hard. He gathers her into his arms and holds her. He feels her shaking and grabs the chair for her to sit on. He gently takes Beth's hand and moves her to the chair. He kneels down next to her. "Baby, are you ok?"

Beth's head snaps around, and he sees tears in her eyes. Mick stands up. "I'm sorry Mrs. Tajada, but I won't be able to help you."

Beth can feel the woman's sorrow as she stands to face Mick. "I understand. Thank you for your time."

Beth finally comes out of her shock. "Stop." Mick and Julia stop and turn to her. "It's…. It's ok. I'm ok. Mick you need to find her daughter. It was just such a shock."

Mick kneels next to her chair. "Are you sure? If this is going to hurt you, I won't do it."

She smiles at him. "Of course. It just blindsided me." Beth looks at Mrs. Tajada and takes a deep breath. "Actually, I should warn you in the interest of full disclosure, you may not want Mick to work for you. I'm a reporter. I'm going after your son-in-law."

Julia smiles a frozen dead smile. "I hope you nail him. That animal has taken my daughter somewhere, and I haven't seen her in more than a year. I'm so afraid for her. Ms. Turner, I don't care what you write about that pig if the two of you can find my daughter."

Beth looks at Mick with a look that says it all. She can't wait to work on this with him.

Mick clears his throat and turns to Julia. "I guess that settles it. We'll look for your daughter. I'll need a picture and as much information as you can give us."

Julia goes into her purse and comes out with a picture. "This was taken the day of her wedding, so it's the most recent picture I have. This is my Elaina. She was 22 when her father bargained away her future for power." Beth can hear the bitterness in the woman's voice.

Beth shakes her head and looks at Julia, "Why…Why would a father do such a thing?"

Julia shakes her head. "He was not always such an awful man. When Elaina was born she was the joy of his life, but money and power corrupted him beyond recognition. Elaina was a sheltered child. So beautiful and full of life, but sheltered. Because of what her father did, he never let her go anywhere without a bodyguard except to school, and then she was driven to and from. When I realized what he had in store for her, I tried to take her and escape, but I was blocked at every turn. Then I heard my husband assuring this man that Elaina was a virgin. It seemed so important the way he talked on the phone." Julia shakes her head. "There was a boy, that Elaina had gone to school with that she cared for very much…." Julia crosses herself. "God forgive me. I told her to sneak out and sleep with the boy. I thought if she wasn't a virgin he would not want her." Julia lets out a sob. "My husband found out what was to happen, and he had the boy killed. I…I caused that boy's death."

Julia sits in the chair and silently cries for the boy who loved her daughter. "The day of the wedding, Lorenzo…" Julia spits out his name, "got off the plane with his own priest. I do not even know if he was a real priest."

Mick interrupted, "Do you remember his name?"

"I have it on a the marriage license. I can call you with it. The wedding was taking place about the same time as those men were killing Mr. Lindsey." Julia shakes her head. "That night my husband was killed." Julia glances at Mick. "The next day Lorenzo and my daughter were gone. I haven't seen her since. It's been over a year and I haven't seen her. I have called him and called him, and he won't even let me talk to her. Mr. St. John, I came to you because I read in the paper how hard you tried to save Mr. Lindsey's life. I hoped maybe you would help me get my daughter back and maybe rid the world of another evil, like my husband." Mick wonders if somehow Julia Tejada knows that he killed her husband.

Mick and Beth look at each other. Mick can see unshed tears in the eyes of both women. Beth nods to him, and Mick turns to Julia. "Mrs. Tajada, I'll do everything I can to try to find Elaina. I'll start checking out any properties he has, any place he could be holding her. I'll warn you, though, it could take awhile to find her if we have to tail him for several days and check out each place."

Julia shakes her head. "As long as someone is looking. It's more than I had before." She stands to leave. "Thank you both." and they watch as she leaves.

Beth stares into the distance. "You know, something is bothering me."

Mick nods for her to continue. "All the available information I have on Castillo says that in his country he has done fine for himself, in a thug sort of way. He worked his way up from a gang leader to this hotshot gunrunner. So, how did he misjudge the entire conversation with Josef? I mean, the things he said, the things he did were just plain stupid. How is it that this Castillo, is the same one that worked his way up from the mean streets of his very dangerous county?"

Mick smiles at her, "I love the way your mind works. Good question. Two possibilities, either he just has never been in the presence of any vampire as old and powerful as Josef and he reacted badly, or he's not who he says he is."

Beth laughs. "Wouldn't it be funny if he were an imposter? I would love for him to be an imposter. We could find the real Castillo and let him take care of this one. Somehow, in thinking back, I think it's the other. He is full of self-importance and ego. He was really mad that he didn't impress me, and then when he met Josef you could see that he was out of his league. Maybe he's only use to dealing with humans."

Beth turns back to Mick. "Do you think Elaina is still alive?"

Mick nods, "I do."

Beth sees a funny look on his face. "Why are you so sure?"

"Because she is a virgin. It's probably the only thing keeping her alive."

Beth takes a deep breath. "Ok, this is some vampire thing nobody's mentioned to me, isn't it?"

Mick nods. "It's not that unusual for vampires, especially males, to want the blood of virgin human females. The thought is that the blood is purer and tastes better." Mick smiles at her, "Personally, I've always thought it mattered more what emotions were in the blood." Beth can tell he's remembering feeding from her when she was still human.

"Do you wish I were still human, so I still tasted like I did then?"

Mick shakes his head and hugs her to him. "No."

Beth looks up at him and smiles. "So, because Elaina is a virgin, you think he's keeping her for his private personal freshie." Something occurs to Beth. "Are Josef's girls all virgins?"

Mick hesitates for a beat, and she has her answer. Mick shrugs, "The bottom line with Josef's girls is they are all volunteers and that none of them is being held against their will and yes, Josef likes his girls to be virgins." Mick smiles, "At least in the beginning."

Beth silently laughs and thinks of the conversation she is going to have with Josef at a later date.

Mick shakes his head and decides next time he talks to Josef he better give him a heads up. This is one bit of information she's not going to forget. This is one discussion he's sure she's going to want to have with Josef. _Better him than me_

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Reviews always make me happy. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**A/N This one is rated M for a good reason beyond the cussing. So be warned!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Beth wakes with a little start, as she reaches out with her sense she finds Mick, she immediately relaxes. She just isn't quite used to the apartment. The overall vibe in the apartment is so different than the thrum of Josef's house, and she thinks that's what is throwing her off. At Mick's everything feels much more laid back and relaxed. Not that she's complaining it's just different.

She always felt safe and loved with Mick before she was turned, and now that he's come to grips with her being a vamp she feels that way again. She will miss Josef, but as long as she knows he's alive and well, she's fine. He promised her no more stupidity. She smiles to herself. She'll have him back again in a year. She shakes her head and studies her life in absolute wonder. She has no idea how she ended up in love with these two incredible men, but she is going to love them and enjoy it as long as life allows.

Now they just needed to safely get past this latest trouble with Castillo. It's been a couple weeks and they don't have much more than they did before. From what Josef's men have said, Coraline and Castillo are just having a fling and nothing out of the ordinary is going on, -- well, out of the ordinary for Coraline. _Bitch._ Josef has decided that it would be best to just kill Castillo and make sure Coraline knows she could be next. Beth votes for just outright killing both of them, but Mick wants to know what the end game is. For now, they agree to do it Mick's way; especially since they are now looking for Elaina. Beth plans to start doing research into all the properties and holdings of Castillo and Tejada, to see if she can narrow down the search. Beth reaches out to sense Mick and smiles when she hears the shower.

Mick gets up and decides that a shower is in order. He senses Beth is awake, but doesn't hear her padding around yet, so he goes and turns on the water and gets in. He lets out a small sigh. Things finally seem to be settling down to something resembling normal. Beth and Josef have finally gotten over saying good-bye. It's never that easy with either of them, not that you'd ever get either of them to admit it. He smiles ruefully, when he thinks about it, he isn't exactly a walk in the park when it comes to saying good-bye either.

He is shampooing his hair and he hears the shower door open and feels her hand skimming across his chest. He smiles to himself. It hasn't been easy, he wants her so much; but he's been holding back from Beth, waiting for her to come to him. After all the turmoil with Josef, he needs her to come to him, to want him. Mick sticks his head under the water to rinse the soap out of his eyes, so he can see the beauty before him. He jumps when she grabs him. He lets out a moan as her hand slowly moves up and down his length, her hand slippery from the soapy water. He takes a deep breath and moves with her, throwing his head back and enjoying the sensation. It doesn't take long and he is hard from her touch.

Mick grabs her and brings her under the stream of water with him. He looks down at her and watches as the water cascades over her naked body. Beth raises her face to the water stretching out her neck, loving the feel of the water. She loves the sensation of it flowing over her skin. Mick watches as her lovely neck is exposed. He hasn't made love to her since she's been turned. This will almost feel like it's the first time for them again, and he supposes in a way it is. Looking at her now, he wonders if he had temporary insanity. Mick watches her with a growing anticipation. He's missed this; he's missed her so much. These last couple weeks, waiting for things to settle down has been pure torture.

She turns to him, snaking her hands up around his neck and pulling him into a searing kiss. Mick backs her up against the shower wall, his hands braced against the wall on either side of her head, pinning her against the shower wall. Mick's desire to have her, to posses her, inflames the predator in him. This is a new feeling for him. He doesn't want to frighten her or hurt her. He starts pushing those feelings down and he sees Beth shake her head. "No more keeping yourself in check, worrying that you'll hurt me." He looks into her eyes and sees dark pools of desire. "I want all of you." She bares her fangs to him and gently rakes them across his collarbone. He moans and throws his head back. She leans into him and licks and nips at his neck with her tongue and fangs. He hears her whisper. "I want the predator and I want the man."

Mick still has her pinned against the shower wall. He gently removes her hands from around his neck. He takes her wrists in his one hand and holds them above her head and looks down at her. The predator in him relishes the thought of her at his tender mercy. They gaze into each other's eyes. Mick lets out a growl and assaults her mouth, a torrent of fangs and tongues, trying to taste and feel all of her. He uses his free hand to roam her body. He stops and lightly runs his hand along her breast, stopping to tease her nipple. Beth tugs against his hold on her, trying to free her hands. She wants to run her hands over his body, feel every inch of him. He growls and holds on just a little tighter. She senses the predator's delight at the show of dominance and possession. She smiles to herself. _Another damn alpha male_ She thrusts her body against him in response, feeling his body's hardness against her. He ducks his head and licks at her nipples, still holding her hands above her head. His free hand now traces its way to the curls between her legs. She's panting wildly as he thrusts his fingers insider her. She starts bucking against him and he continues to hold her against the wall at his mercy. He stops and pulls his hand back, watching her. "Mick…..oh please….more… don't stop…don't ever stop."

He sinks to his knees in front of her, slowly running his hands down her body. He relishes the feel of her soft skin under his touch. He pins her hips against he shower wall. He nips and kisses her legs. She moans and moves her legs apart as he moves his way to the inside of her thighs. Mick smiles to himself, he loves being able to make her want him like this. He slides a finger inside her, loving the feel of her. He dips his tongue in between her swollen lips and she arches her back. He can hear her panting with desire, calling his name, as he tastes her with his tongue. He feels how close she is to coming, and hears her growl when he stands up. He looks down at this beautiful vamped out woman before him and lets out a growl of his own.

Mick moves his hands to her waist and traces down to her bottom. He cups her ass and gives a little tug and she swings her legs up and wraps them around his waist. Mick moves her into position and guides her down his hard length. He supports her bottom and starts to move slowly at first. She's so tight and hot. Soon he's moving faster and harder. Pulling almost all the way out and slamming back to her. Beth hangs on to his shoulders, digging her nails in as the pleasure escalates. Beth rakes her fangs across his collarbone, and Mick lets out a growl of pure pleasure. They are both panting hard. He feels her soft delicate muscles starts to contract as her orgasm approaches. She sinks her fangs into his shoulder as she starts to come. He lets out a roar and follows her over the edge with his fangs in her neck. As he drinks in her love and desire, he gently sinks to his knees with her legs still wrapped around him, locked together drinking in each other's bodies.

Fangs slowly retract as breathing becomes normal again, but he still holds her close to him, not wanting to let her go. Beth looks deep into his eyes, all of her love for him plainly visible. He feels that emotional connection, they once so lovingly shared, open up to him again. "I love you so much."

Mick puts his forehead against hers. "I love you too. It's so nice to have you back home again."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Elaina paces the room like a caged cat. She's being held in a new place. Late last night two of her guards came to her room and blindfolded her and then one handcuffed her to himself. They drove her to a new house. She had no idea where she was, but it was out away from LA, she was sure of that. She was in an upstairs room with only one window that was sealed shut. She thought of breaking the window, but realized she was up three stories so even if she did managed to get through it there was no way for her to get down.

She decides right then and there that everyday she will try to find a way out of this mess. When she was first thrown in to this marriage to this monster, she was so frightened that she let the situation overpower and dominate her. No more of that. She finally realizes that there will be no help, and if she's going to be free of this terrible nightmare she better start using her head.

So now, everyday when she knows her husband and his kind are asleep she will look over every nook and cranny in the room trying to figure out a way out. She will watch her guards and keeps note of when they change and if they are the same ones all the time or different. She will pay attention to every little detail she can in order to figure out how to get out of her small prison. She is not going to depend on help that isn't going to come.

It has been 10 days since her bastard husband has come to feed on her. He would return any day now. He never lets it go longer than 14 days. The marks in her neck never heal, and he uses the same ones to drink from every time. At first she thought he would have taken her to his bed, but then she realized why it was so important that she be a virgin when he married her. She had thought it was some macho idea of purity of his woman. She now realizes it was purity all right, but it was purity of her blood he desires. Once she realized that all she was to him was some kind of tasty snack, she knew that he was never let her go. It will always be just as it is now, and she'll be damned if she is going to live out her days locked in a room being a fancy appetizer for him and who knows who else.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick punches up Josef's number. He hasn't seen Josef since the wreck. He wants to see his old friend and make sure that they are ok now that Beth has moved to Mick's. He knows Josef will be able to tell that Mick and Beth are sharing a bed again, but it can't be helped. He's not going to avoid Josef for the next year, just like he won't when she's back living at Josef's. It's just something that they are both going to have to live with.

Josef looks at the ringing phone and flips it open. "Hey, Mick."

"Josef, How are you feeling?"

"Good as new. What's up? Is Beth ok?"

"Yea, she's fine. I was wondering if I could stop by. Last time I saw you, you were still flat on your back."

"Sure."

Mick parks at Josef's and walks up to the front door. He starts to knock and Josef opens the door. "Please, now that Beth isn't living here, can you please stop knocking? Let's try and work some things back to where they use to be."

Mick smiles, "Sure." Mick follows Josef into the house and into Josef's study.

Josef stands at the bar and pours himself a scotch. "You want a drink?"

"Sure. Half and half."

"Really? Half and half?" Josef starts to laugh. Mick tries to look offended, but pretty soon he's laughing as well. Josef pours Mick a half scotch, half blood and passes it down the bar.

Josef shakes his head, "So, you said Beth is fine."

"Yea, I actually wanted to talk to you about a couple of things. First off, I'm tired of defending you and Beth for my mistakes over the last year. I need to know if you have a problem with anyone knowing about the arrangement we have. I've had two different female vamps get nasty about either you or Beth, or both, and if this becomes a trend it's going to be tiresome."

Josef thinks about it for a minute and gives a mental shrug. "No, not a problem for me. I doubt Beth will care either, but you'll have to ask her. Who is giving you a hard time?"

"Today it was Jenny, a few months ago Victoria. In addition, Beth won't go near Jenny's because you apparently told her that Jenny was nasty to you about my leaving town?"

Josef snorts. "Yea, I realized too late how stupid it was to tell Beth. I was still kind of pissed when I saw her after talking to Jenny, and you know how she is, she wouldn't let it go until she found out whom I was mad at and why."

"Can you see if you can fix it? I'd like to take her to Jenny's. You know, besides you and me, she doesn't ever have any contact with any other vampires. We need to do something about that" and before Josef can protest, Mick adds "and Robert, Jack and Dave don't count. You know as well as I do, she needs to start feeling comfortable around our own kind. This cocoon you and I have wrapped her in isn't good for her. I know vamps tend to be solitary, but she is more social by nature, and I think this could be good for her."

Josef sighs. "You're right. She does need to get out and meet others." Josef smiles. "The problem is she needs to be watched and kept out of trouble. Are you going to let her feed off a human male if she wants? Her curiosity being what it is, sooner or later, she is going to want to try one. If you don't want to, you can ask her to hold off until she comes back here."

"Actually, that was the whole point of taking her to Jenny's."

Josef lets out a low whistle. "Boy, you have come a long way." He laughs "It's about damn time."

"Yea, yea. Will you call Beth and explain about Jenny?"

"No problem, and Mick, I'll take care of Victoria. I've known her even longer than I've known Jenny. I need to call her anyway and thank her for helping to get me out of the desert."

Mick starts to laugh. "While I'm here I need to give you a heads up. Be prepared to have a discussion with Beth about the fact that the girls are virgins, and why you like it that way," Mick can't help but laugh at Josef's scowl. "I'm sure she has a few questions, and you know Beth, she's not going to forget either."

Josef narrows his eyes at Mick "Interesting conversations you have at your place." Josef shakes his head and snort at Mick. "You just remember, I know a lot of things about you too. You keep giving me up, and two can play that game. Another thing, when I get my ass in a sling I would appreciate it if you would not tell Beth just how bad it is. Telling her how you found me in the desert was not a good idea. "

"Josef, a situation came up and I had to explain about some vampires liking virgins better and I swear you could see the gears working in her head and all of a sudden she asked me point blank about the girls. There was nothing I could do, short of lying to her. As for the desert, I'm pretty sure I wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know."

"Maybe, but in the future, lets see if we can keep information about one of us being hurt to a minimum. It scares the hell out of her, and I really hate that."

Mick snorts. "Kind of hard to do when she's so connected to both of us. It's weird, but some times I swear it's a form of vampire hyper empathy or ESP or something."

"It is. It varies in degree. Most vampires have at least a little touch of it, but the three of us all have much more than most. It's that vamp appeal you're always alluding to. It manifests itself in different ways. With Beth it's how she connects with the people she loves." Mick hears Josef hesitate for a second and then there is a small smile on his face. "It's also why some things with Beth are better than they are with anyone else. The emotional pull is amazing."

Mick smiles, knowing exactly what he's talking about.

Josef continues, "With you, it's that ability you have to see the past, and probably some day, the future." Mick looks surprised, and Josef adds. "With me it's the ability to understand vamps, and humans alike, better than they themselves do and to control many of them. I've always been able to do this, but it's gotten easier as my power has increased through age." Josef laughs, "It's one of the reasons that money and power come to me easier than others." Something occurs to Josef. "Mick, I don't know if you realize this, but you need to be careful with that looking into the past and future." Mick nods for him to continue. "As you age, those abilities are going to become more powerful, stronger. You need to learn to handle them carefully. You don't want them to overwhelm you." Mick nods his agreement.

"With Beth, I thought that the connection was only because I'm her sire, and it would fade with time. After what happened when I wrecked the car, I don't think so anymore. I look back and realize she shared the same connection with you before she shut you out when you left her." Josef glances at Mick. "And does again, now. I don't think she understand that the connections she shares with us is different than what others have with each other. I don't know if she would have this same connection with any lover she has," Josef looks at Mick ruefully. "I'd like to think this is unique to her relationship to us because we also have more of the ability than most vampires, but I don't know." Mick hears Josef give a small growl. "And I don't want to find out either."

Mick whole-heartedly agrees with that sentiment.

"She also needs to learn to control it. If she had control she would have saved herself a lot of pain when I wrecked the Ferrari. She could have shut me out and not had to wait for me to do it. The only time I've ever seen her do anything with it was when she shut you out because she was furious and hurt, and I don't even know if it was a conscience decision or her mind protecting her."

"You know, part of the time you were hurt, she almost shut down. I wondered at the time if her body wasn't trying to protect her. Josef, she wasn't like this until after she was turned."

"That's because her senses just amp up whatever abilities she already has, you know how it works. In fact, it might explain why you spent twenty-two years making sure she was safe. The pull was there, but she was human so it wasn't strong enough for most vamps to feel it. You had been exposed to her on a pretty emotional level, thanks to Coraline and so you were drawn in. Because she was a child, the overwhelming need to protect is what you felt." Josef looks over at Mick and shrugs. "I'm just talking off the top of my head, theorizing, but she does have a lot of vamp appeal and she needs to understand how others are going to react to it. So far, her only real exposure to vamps has been around those who are loyal and would never dream of causing her distress."

Mick shakes his head. "That can't be right. I mean Coraline hates Beth, there are vamps that don't like her."

Josef starts to laugh. "Oh, and lets not forget Castillo. The funny thing is it would also explain why he gave himself away the night of the party. He probably had no intention of speaking to her, but he got pulled in. We'll have to watch her over time and see if she shows any more abilities that can be associated with this. She's so young almost anything could crop up later."

Mick smiles. "Maybe that's why we are able to have this arrangement without killing each other, maybe it's her keeping us in line without our knowing it."

Josef shakes his head. "Don't even say that out loud. If anyone thought she could exert that kind of control over others…at such a young age…not good."

Mick rolls his eyes. "I was just kidding. I don't think she can do that" and before Josef can say anything Mick adds. "But I won't mention it again. I know you're probably right."

Mick finishes the last of his drink and sets down his empty glass. He smiles at Josef. "It really is nice that you're up and moving again."

Josef shakes his head. "Don't go getting sentimental on me." Mick notices the small smile behind his words. Josef isn't really good with much emotion, unless it's coming from Beth. Mick smiles at him and claps him on the back. "Take it easy Josef. I'll talk to you later."

Josef watches Mick leave and thinks about what Mick said about Beth keeping them from killing each other. Josef knows he is wrong. Even now, Josef can feel the urge to kill Mick. The alpha male predator is the center of who Josef is. Even now he is wondering…. 'Why Mick is still alive? Why he is bedding my mate?' If Beth's other lover were anyone but Mick, he would be dead by now. She would not be able to stop Josef from killing him, but it is Mick and Josef will keep the predator at bay for his friend, his brother.

Josef sighs, and decides it's time to get on with life. He knows that one of the reasons that Mick was here is because they are both still worried about him. He decides it's time to get out and have some fun. If he doesn't get his act together Beth is going to be on his doorstep with a stake in her hand. Sitting around for a year waiting for Beth is not really his style anyway. He smirks when he thinks of a couple of nice brunettes he knows. He smiles when he realizes that, like Mick, there will be no blonds in his bed, everything but blonds. _Damn that woman_.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Reviews always make me happy!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**This one is most rated M for a good reason beyond the cussing. So be warned!**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Julia stares at the man before her and realizes there is something very different about him, but she doesn't know what it is. The feeling frightens her, not for herself, but for Elaina. She is terrified to think what this monster may have done to her daughter. "Can I see her now? I did as you asked. I went and spoke Mr. St. John. You said I could see Elaina if I did as you said."

Julia jumps when a woman walks out of the shadows. She had no idea the woman was even there. Julia eyes her as you would any dangerous predator. Coraline walks over to Julia. "I want to know what was said."

Julia hears the edge of anger in this woman's voice and decides she will do and say whatever she must to get Elaina away from these people. "I did as Mr. Castillo asked. I went to Mr. St. John and asked him to find Elaina for me. At first, he wasn't going to do it because it hurt Ms. Turner, but she insisted that he take the case."

Castillo and Coraline glance at each other, and Julia watches as they both smile. "Ms. Turner was there?"

Julia thinks of the nice woman and feels sorry for what she's doing to her and Mr. St. John. "Yes, she was the reason he agreed to take the case. She felt sorry for me."

Coraline laughs. "Oh, this is perfect." Coraline nods to Lorenzo. "I think she has deserved her reward, don't you?"

Julia shudders at his smile. "Oh, yes. I think she has done very well."

"Come, Julia. My men will escort you to see Elaina."

Julia hugs her daughter as the door slams behind her. She stands back and looks at her. "Elaina, you look so pale. What has he done to you?"

"Oh, Mama, he is a monster, a real one. He sucks my blood. He is a vampire."

Julia looks at her daughter, wondering if she is feverish. She puts her hand to her forehead like she did when Elaina was small. "You don't seem feverish."

Elaina realizes her mother doesn't understand that she's telling her is the truth. "Mama look at this." Elaina moves her hair away from her neck and her mother sees two puncture wounds on her daughter's neck.

Julia's eyes get big. "Mother of God," she gasps.

"He comes to me and uses the same spot over and over, so they never quite heal." Her mother crosses herself and then realizes that she's helped them set a trap for probably the only person that could save them. Julia shakes her head. _What have I done? I've doomed us all._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick takes Beth's hand and walks her over to the couch and she snuggles up next to him. "Two things-- I need to know if you have any problems with anyone in the community knowing about the arrangement that you and I have with Josef?"

Beth shrugs. "Doesn't matter to me." Then she laughs, "I bet Josef doesn't care either, and the only one a little twitchy about this is you."

He shrugs at her and smiles, "So, can we talk about Jenny's again?"

Beth looks at him suspiciously. "You know it's interesting that you would ask me about this; Josef called to tell me that she apologized the day I moved out."

Mick smiles at her, "I went to see Jenny to find out what the hell went on, and she told me she had already apologized to Josef. So I went to see Josef and talked to him about it, and he said he would call you and explain. What did Josef tell you?"

"Before we get to that, you said you saw Josef? How was he?"

Mick smiles. This was one of the reasons he went to see Josef. He knew she was still worried about him. "He's good. He's healed up, and I think he's back to his old self. He seemed much more…Josef like, than he has in awhile."

Beth lets out a sigh of relief. "Good. That's good to hear. I talked to him when he called about Jenny, but you know; it's not the same as seeing someone. Especially Josef, he's like someone else I know, really good at hiding his feelings."

Mick gives her a 'who me?' look. "Now back to Jenny, what did Josef tell you?"

"He said that the three of you were friends. That Jenny was just concerned about you and she was pissed that you had left town, so she was taking it out on Josef. She called back and said she was sorry."

"So?"

Beth brings her knees up to her chest and wraps her arms around them. "Just because Josef is forgiving, doesn't mean I have to be. I don't know this woman. Why should I be nice?"

Mick looks at her skeptically. She sounds very sullen and it bothers him. She's practically rolled herself into a ball in front of him. And as cute as she looks sitting that way, in nothing but a pair of short shorts and a tank top, suggests that she's protecting herself, but from what? "Beth? Come on what's going on? It's not like you to hold a grudge over something like this." He reaches out trying to get a sense of her mood. "Are you afraid of going to Jenny's?"

He watches her and she won't look at him. "I'm not afraid of anything."

He smiles. "How about if I rephrase that? Are you nervous about the idea of feeding from a human other than Josef's girls? It's ok, if that's what's bothering you."

She mumbles something into her knees that even Mick can't catch with his vamp hearing. He makes her look at him. "What?"

"I don't want to embarrass you or Josef by doing something stupid. I mean, I know there's a lot I don't know, and you and Josef are the only vamps I know. I'm just sort of uncomfortable being around others. Truthfully, I'm still more comfortable around humans than I am other vamps. I know that's weird."

"You're not going to embarrass us. You need to get out and be exposed to others of our own kind. Which is exactly why I wanted you to do this, and why I want you to meet Jenny. You don't have to feed if you don't want. As your sire, Josef has gotten to teach you so much and be with you when you learned things. I just wanted to be the one to do this with you. If it's outside of your comfort zone that's fine, it's not that big a deal."

Beth realizes it is a big deal. Oh, not in the overall scheme of things, but a big deal to Mick. He had just gotten past his personal vampire self-loathing after twenty some years, and was back to feeding from freshies. For him to want to take her to meet his friend and help Beth to get use to feeding from strangers is important to him. It is something she does need to learn,and he wants to be the one to do this with her. Beth thinks about it and nods. "I'll go, and I'll be nice. We'll see about the rest. How's that?"

She watches as his face brighten. "Great. How about lunch tomorrow?"

"It's a date."

Mick goes to his office to call Jenny and tell her peace has been achieved, and they will be there the next night.

"So, all is forgiven and we'll come over tomorrow night."

"Mick, I'm really looking forward to meeting Beth."

"Jenny, Josef and I have sort of overprotected her and she's never fed from a freshie other than Josef's girls and she's friends with all of them. She's sort of nervous about being around other vampires and being expected to feed in a situation she isn't used to."

Jenny snorts at him. "Let me guess, you and Josef, oh, and Josef's staff are the only vampires she even knows."

Mick sighs, "Yes, you get the picture. Well, she did meet my psycho ex-wife and get to know her well enough to stake her. "

Jenny laughs, "I like this girl more and more. Anybody who would stake Coralline has to be a good judge of character. Mick, you leave it to me. I know she's only a year old, and she's probably still sort of skittish. We'll make this a positive experience for her so you can bring her back often." Jenny laughs, "Maybe if I can hook both of you; you can drag Josef over here. Now that would make my day. We'll see you and Beth tomorrow." And she hangs up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So, here they are out in front of Jenny's. Beth is beautiful in a soft summer dress and sandals. She looks the place over, taking everything in. She isn't sure what she was expecting, but this wasn't it. This is very modern and nice, but has touches of the past. As they walk in, she notices nice antiques are scattered about, and some artwork of the area through the last several decades. Very nice décor, Beth thinks. They get farther in and there is a pretty woman with long brown hair and blue eyes waiting for them. Mick makes the introductions. "Beth, this is Jenny. Jenny, this is Beth." Beth is more nervous than she anticipated, but she manages a smile, and says hi.

Jenny watches her as they walk in. Beth may not think there is anything special about herself, but Jenny can see from Mick's eyes he does. Jenny can feel the nervousness from the girl, even with Mick by her side. Jenny walks forward to meet them and Mick makes the introductions.

Jenny tries to be as disarming as possible. "Hi, it's nice to meet you." She gently takes Beth's arm and guides her over to a nice corner table. The three of them sit and Jenny uses her personal charm to try and get Beth to relax. _The girl is like a scared colt_. "Mick tells me that you are friends with Josef's girls."

Beth smiles and relaxes a little. "Yes, they are all very nice."

"I'll bet they are. I tried very hard to get Emily to be one of my girls but Josef got to her first. She's very nice. Maybe you would like to meet her brother?"

Beth looks at her questioningly. "Henry?"

Jenny frowns, "Do you know Henry? He didn't mention having met you before."

"No, we've never met but Emily talks about him. I just didn't realize he was a freshie also."

"Yes, Josef hasn't ever had any use for males, so it's always easier for me to get the best of them." Jenny smiles mischievously at Beth. "Although, I have a hunch that may change a year from now. Females, I have to fight him tooth and nail for, oh and now that you are living at Mick's, Josef is up to his old tricks again. He beat me out of a new prospect just last night."

Beth smiles, wondering what she will find when she goes back to Josef's to live. _Now, that sounds like Josef is back to his old self._

Mick watches them and sees that Jenny has Beth's attention and she's starting to relax. He decides he needs a drink. "Beth, I'm going to go to the bar and get a scotch. Do you want something?" She looks a little nervous, but nods. "I'll take a wine, if that's ok?"

He leans over and kisses the top of her head on his way by. "Of course it is."

Once Mick leaves, Jenny continues, "I have a nice room for you and Mick where you can feed in private, if that will make you more comfortable." Beth nods, but Jenny realizes there is something else. "Beth? Look, I'm almost as old as Josef, you can tell me anything and you don't have to worry about me telling anyone. Keeping things to myself is part of the job description." Jenny looks purposely into Beth's eyes. "Come on, what is it?"

"Well, uh…when I've fed with Josef and the girls…I know how he reacts to feeding from the opposite sex, and you know, Mick's here with me……" Beth finally just rolls her eyes in frustration and thinks to hell with it and Jenny gets a glimpse of the real Beth. "Oh hell, I'm nervous about feeding from a male in front of Mick. If Josef is any indication, the opposite sex feeding is very erotic and I'm not sure how to react to doing this with Mick around. Shit."

Jenny starts to laugh and Beth frowns. "Dear, I'm not laughing at you. I just can't wait till you relax. I think you and I will be good friends once you calm down."

Beth smiles at her ruefully. "I hope so. I love Mick and Josef, but I'm so tired of being around nothing but male vamps. God, they can be impossible sometimes."

"Don't worry about Mick or anything, but relaxing and feeding. Mick loves you, even I can see that; it will be fine."

Mick watches Jenny and Beth laughing from the bar and realizes, that for the first time in his long life, he is very glad he is where he is at that very moment. All seems right with the world for once.

Mick watches James approach the women and seems to pay particular attention to Beth. Mick steels himself to stay at the bar and see how she handles the attention. This also is something she's going to have to handle on her own.

Beth watches the blond man approach the table. He smiles at Jenny and says hello. "Who's your friend? I don't think I've met her yet."

Jenny looks at Beth and gives her a conspiratorial smile. "Beth, this is James; James, this is Beth."

"Mind if I sit down with you ladies?"

Beth smiles and shakes her head. "Sorry, but that chair is taken by my lover."

He smiles. "And that would be? Maybe I can change your mind?"

Beth and Jenny look at each other and Beth turns back to James. "Oh, I don't think so."

James scrunches his nose. "Tell me then, who is this mystery vamp."

Beth laughs. "Oh, here he is now."

Mick wonders over with their drinks. "James."

James looks between Beth and Mick. "Mick." He shakes his head "I should have known." And he walks away grumbling something about Mick and Josef.

Jenny is quietly laughing to herself. Beth just looks pleased with herself. "What did I miss?"

"Nothing, just watching James do his usual hit on any new beauty that walks in the front door. He asked to sit with us and Beth told him the chair belonged to her lover. Then you walked up. The look on his face was priceless. James still remembers the old days when you and Josef were here all the time. He does not like you and Josef. He is not going to be pleased to hear you're on tap again."

Jenny gets up. She grabs Beth's hand. Follow me, I want to show you something. Grab your wine." Before they get too far Jenny turns to Mick. "Sit and have your drink. Pick yourself out a redhead, and I'll come back and get you."

He watches them leave and wonders what Jenny has up her sleeve, but he trusts her to help Beth stay calm. Mick shrugs and does as she said. He sees Sylvie, the redhead that approached him six months ago, and crooks his finger at her. She smiles and comes over to sit down.

Beth follows Jenny up the stairs, and they enter a nice cozy room. Soft music plays in the background. There is a fireplace that gives off a soft glow; and a couple of couches. Thick carpet on the floor makes Beth want to take her shoes off. She can feel how thick it is. Beth goes over and sits on the couch smiling up at Jenny. "This is nice."

"I thought you'd like it. Now I'm going to send Henry up for you and Mick up with whatever redhead he's found."

Beth puts her hand on Jenny's arm to stop her. Beth crinkles her nose at Jenny, "Has Mick always been attracted to redheads?"

Jenny pats her arm and snickers. "Only when it's meal time."

Beth kicks off her shoes and tries to stay calm. She watches the door open and a young dark haired human with Emily's green eyes walks in followed by Mick and, yes, a redhead. Henry walks over and sits next to Beth. They both smile, and at the same time both try to tell each other how much they've heard about the other from Emily. Beth glances at Mick over Henry's shoulder and he's gently brushing the hair from Sylvie's neck. He glances at Beth and gives her a reassuring smile. Softly Beth hears. "It's ok, baby, you can do this."

Beth looks at Henry shyly. "I'm not really comfortable with necks." Henry smiles and puts out his arm for her. "That's ok, necks are overrated." Beth giggles and lets the predator out. Her eyes go crystal blue and her fangs descend. She takes Henry's arm and gently sinks her fangs into his arm. As she starts to suck the blood from Henry's out stretched arm, she can tell he and Emily are siblings. She can taste similarities in their blood, but Henry's has something else…. something that tastes very, very intoxicating. Beth almost immediately goes into a state of bliss. _This is much better than Emily._ Beth tries to concentrate on how much she's taking. She doesn't want to take too much, but it's difficult since she's starting to feel very languid and fuzzy and, yes, hot. She's frightened she will lose control and hurt him. She pulls her fangs out and licks at the small rivulets of blood to stop the bleeding. She looks at Henry and smiles softly at him.

"You didn't have to stop." His eyes are distant and dreamy. "Believe me, you didn't have to stop. Em was right about you. You're good at this, very good."

Beth smiles at him. "Thank you."

Mick retracts his fangs from Sylvie and gently lays her back on the couch. Mick watches Henry and Beth. He was keeping one ear tuned to Henry's heartbeat to make sure Beth didn't go too far. Henry was right she didn't have to stop so soon, but better too soon than get lost and have to pull her back and scare her. She controlled the blood lust very well. Mick crosses to her and smiles when he sees Henry. "I would say, from the look of him, you are doing just fine."

Henry gives Mick a watery smile. "Bring her back any time. We'll work on that neck thing." Henry's hand flutters in the air above him. "I may go live with my sister in a year."

Mick pulls Beth into his arms and gives her a long, burning kiss filled with desire. Beth tugs at his bottom lip with her fangs tasting Mick's blood this time and she gives out a long low moan. "Home. I want you."

Mick kisses her hard again. "Oh, yes." He puts his arm around her and they wave to Jenny as they leave.

She waves and smiles a knowing smile. They'll be back.

Mick and Beth walk out into the warm night to Mick's car. Mick feels his control slipping. His predator is sniffing the air. Beth's desire is flooding his senses. He wants her, and he wants her now. He's walking behind her, watching her body move, seductively under the light cotton dress. He knows she has little on under the dress. They get to the car and Beth leans against it waiting for him to unlock the door. Mick opens the car door and gently takes her purse and throws it in the car. He braces both hands on the roof of the car and stares down into her eyes. Beth looks at him and sees the desire in his eyes.

He licks her neck "Hey there, beautiful."

"Hey yourself." She knows him well enough to know what he has in mind. "Can I help you with something?"

Mick lets out a growl and covers her mouth with his. Beth moans into his mouth and returns the kiss, running her tongue over his fangs. Beth feels his hands running up and down her rib cage. She breaks the kiss and looks at him with a seductive smile. "Right here, against the car?"

Mick presses her against the car with his body. She can feel every muscle and every bulge of him pressing against her. He is kissing her hard and running his hands over her body again.

He growls softly so only she can hear it. "Yes, right here. I want you, right here." He sniffs the air. "We're alone."

She realizes she wants this as much as he wants her. Beth wraps her arms around his neck and brings his mouth down close to hers. "God, Mick, take me. Now."

He reaches up under her dress and with one quick movement the panties are flung into the car door to join the rest of her stuff. Mick's senses are screaming at him loud and clear that she is more than ready for him. Mick quickly unbuttons the fly of his jeans and pulls them down far enough to free his erection. She lifts one leg and wraps it around his waist, opening herself up to him. He holds her leg and slides deep inside her. Beth is panting in his ear and he can feel her breath on his neck. She's running her fingers through the curls at the back of his neck and nipping at his neck.

Mick pulls the dress down around her shoulders so her breasts are free from the material. Mick leans down to nibble and lick at her nipples. He hears her saying his name in between pants. He braces himself against the side of the car and pumps into her hard and fast. He hasn't felt this out of control in a long time. He has to have her right now, the urgency is undeniable. He presses his head against her shoulder, thrusting into her like a man possessed. Their timing perfect, as Mick's thrusts are met with equal need from Beth. Mick plunges his fangs into her exposed neck. Beth feels the pleasure of having him drinking her, tasting her blood and it sends her over the edge. He thrusts into her erratically a few more times as he comes, filling her. Mick retracts his fangs and leans into her shoulder. Both of them are breathing heavily. Finally, Mick pulls back and looks at her a little unsure. "I didn't hurt you did I?"

Beth smiles at him questioningly. "No, you didn't hurt me. You made me feel amazing. Why did you think you hurt me?"

Mick cups her butt and looks at her a little sheepishly. "Because I think we put a dent in the fender."

Beth starts to giggle. She reaches back and feels the fender and sure enough there is a dent the size of her ass in the fender of the Benz. "Your insurance company isn't going to want to pay for that." She's still giggling.

Mick looks down at her "Yea think?" and now he's laughing as well. "I don't think this is something I'm going to put a claim in for. I'm not sure telling them that the dent is from my girlfriends cute little butt is quite enough of an explanation, and any more is going to be way too much information. Come on, let's get out of here." They rearrange clothing and get in the car. Mick leans over and kisses her and they drive off into the night.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**As usual reviews and comments always make me a happy camper. Please! :)**


	19. Chapter 19

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Beth closes her eyes just before she makes the leap. She feels the rooftop under her feet as she lands. Her feet falter and she tucks her head into a roll. She rolls the second time and she smoothly pushes with her legs and is up and running without even having to stop.

She hears the footfalls behind her and tries to judge how much of a lead she has. She glances at the next jump and decides it's too far. Instead of jumping across to the next building she jumps straight down between them, landing lightly off the tenement building.

She ducks down the alley and sees it blocked by a six-foot chain link fence. She leaps the fence in one smooth movement only to find herself blocked in by a brick wall and a dead end. _Damn. _

She wonders if it's too late to back track. She sees a fire escape on one wall and wonders if she can leap high enough to pull it down. She makes the leap and just misses the first time. She hears the footfalls closer now. She has to make it this time or he will catch her.

Beth makes one more leap and puts everything she can into it and catches the last rung of the fire escape. It doesn't slide down as expected. It hasn't moved in so long that even with her weight it won't budge. She slowly pulls herself up until she can get her feet on the bottom rung. If she can just get over this last roof she will be safe. Quickly she climbs the fire escape. She gets to the landing and makes one last leap to the rooftop. She lands and looks around for her pursuer. Suddenly she's in his arms being kissed.

Mick breaks the kiss and smiles down at her. "You would have beaten me if you hadn't dropped off that last roof. You should have jumped."

They'd started doing this a few days ago. Mick had made a case for her pushing her vamp abilities, so that she was prepared to do whatever she needed to if someone came after her. So, they played tag of sorts across rooftops and all over the darker parts of the city. Although, tonight the objective was just to outrun him. If she could have gotten to this rooftop and down to the parking lot below first she would have won, but she chickened out on the last rooftop.

Beth looks disgusted with herself. "I know. I got spooked when I saw how far away it was. I didn't think I could make it. You're picking harder and harder areas. The buildings are older and farther apart here. Not only that, but you made me run this one blind. I didn't get to look it over first." She sounds whiny even to her ears, like a petulant child.

"All of that is true, but if you're on the run you seldom get to pick your route ahead of time. You know, it will hurt like hell if you miss but it's not going to kill you. You need to stretch out until you do miss a couple, so you know just what your limits are. That's in part why we're out here. So you can find your limits and stretch them."

Beth sighs. "I know. I'm just still getting use to the idea that missing a leap across the buildings isn't going to kill me."

Mick puts his arm around her. "You did a good job tonight. That roll across the second to the last rooftop was a great recovery. I don't think you even missed a step. Very smooth." Mick kisses her nose. "However you've got to stop closing your eyes when you jump."

She smiles at him sheepishly. "How can you know I did that?"

He laughs. "Because I remember doing the same thing. This practice really is good idea. The only way you're going to shed your old human fears of getting killed is to keep doing this. I think if you run into problems, most vamps are going to think you'll be easy because you're so young. If you get into a jam and can really do the moves across rooftops and down alleys and fire escapes you should be able to get away to call for help. If you can do more than they expect for your age, it gives you an edge."

Beth looks at him somewhat worried and he sighs. "I'm not trying to frighten you. I just want you prepared for any eventuality. Beth, between the three of us we tend to make some very bad enemies, and it never hurts to be prepared."

She nods, knowing he's right.

He puts his arm around her once again. "That's enough for tonight. Let's go home."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick enters his office and sits down to make a few phone calls.

Josef looks down at the phone "Hey, Mick, what's going on?"

"Just thought maybe you might like an update on Beth's visit to Jenny's?"

Josef smiles. "Of course, no matter what else, I'm still her sire. How did it go?"

"She did very well." Mick laughs again at the memory. "You may have to move Emily's brother, Henry in next year, when Beth moves back."

"That's right. I forgot that she had a brother that was one of Jenny's freshies. Do you think she liked feeding from a male enough that I'm going to have to employee a couple for her when she comes back?"

"Josef, you ask her, but I think it would be something she would appreciate since you already have the girls. I think she liked it very much, but she was concentrating pretty hard on not losing herself and making sure she didn't hurt him. The more practice she has, the more she's going to enjoy it. If you don't have a male or two available for her she's going to want you to take her to Jenny's. Jenny would love that."

"I'll keep that in mind. How did Beth and Jenny get along?"

"Jenny was good with her and I think once Beth gets use to more and more vamps she and Jenny will be friends. Oh, and Beth met James."

Josef snorts. "What'd she do?"

"Shot him down of course. She's got good taste in men, you know that."

Josef laughs. "Of course she does." And hangs up.

Josef looks down at the phone. He's glad that Beth had a good time at Jenny's. From what Mick's not saying though, Josef guesses the sex afterwards must have been pretty damn good. He sighs. He's got to stop thinking along those lines, or things are going to spin out of control She'll be back soon enough.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick calls Dave. "Do you still have men watching Castillo and Coraline?"

"No, Josef pulled us off. It was clear that she had spotted the tales and we weren't learning anything new. Uh, Mick, what is the deal with her?"

"What do you mean?"

Dave hesitates not wanting to offend Mick. "Well, uh, I don't want to make you mad or anything, I mean she is your ex, but apparently she has this guy not knowing whether he's coming or going."

Mick shakes his head. "No offense taken. Coraline uses sex as a way to control. If you don't know what she's capable of, it's easy to forget who you are. It's that simple. Does he seem like she's got him so bad he's dangerous to everyone around him, like he's completely out of control?" Mick remembers the feeling. It's not pleasant.

"No, just the opposite he seems more like a dog wagging his tail. She's got him calm as a lap dog."

Mick snorts. "Easier to get things done with a compliant accomplice. Dave can you send me a list of places that he went up until you realized that they were on to you?"

"No problem." They hang up.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth sits at her desk and looks over the list of properties owned by the Tejada family and a few that she's traced back to Castillo that he's bought since he's been married to Elaina in the name of an off shore corporation. Tajada had a pretty big enterprise before he died. The old man had really diversified his dirty money. Some of these places, Beth knows, will be honest and legitimate to cover for the ones that aren't. He must have been laundering an awful lot of money through these places.

Beth hears Mick coming up the stairs and looks up as he comes through the door. "Dave just sent me this. Maybe it will help. It's a list of the places that Castillo went before Coraline realized he was being watched."

Beth takes the list and starts looking it over. "Hey, that's great. I'll compare it with the list of holdings I have and see we can get some leads to look for Elaina."

Mick comes around and sits on the corner of her desk and she looks up at him. "You've been at this long enough. Come have a drink with me and you can start back on this tomorrow. We'll go over everything together with fresh eyes."

Beth takes a deep breath. "I keep thinking about Elaina…. I keep thinking of how frightened she must be. I'm afraid for her. I'm worried that Castillo did the same thing to her that Coraline did to you, and that's why no one seen her since the wedding."

Mick shakes his head. "Nope. I can almost guarantee you that she's still human. She may be scared to death but she's still human. You heard her mother say how important it was that Elaina was a virgin. That is one vamp that is not going to mess with a good meal by turning it."

Beth sighs. "I know you're right, it's just so terrible to think of her locked away so he can feed off her, like some damn rarified snack tray. That's almost worse. Mick, we have to find her."

Mick nods. "We will, but not tonight. Tomorrow we'll come up with a list of possible places and I'll start staking them out."

Beth narrows her eyes at him. "What do you mean you'll start staking them out? I'm going with you. I'm going to help. In fact, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't be looking for Elaina at all."

Mick shakes his head. "Beth, look I can't take you with me. If Coraline gets her hands on you then there is no telling what will happen." He cups her face. "If she gets to you, she could make me do anything to get your free. Do you understand how bad it could be? Do you understand the lengths I would go to get you back?"

Beth nods. "You know I'm always safer with you. She could come for me while you're gone."

Mick knows she's right. "I'll make you a deal."

Beth sees a glimmer of hope that he will give in and let her go. "You do exactly, and I mean exactly, what I tell you the minute I tell you with no questions asked and I'll take you with me. It's either that or I park you at Josef's and let him and his security guys keep you safe."

Beth realizes the enormity of his fear the moment he says he'll take her to Josef's. Having to admit that he needs Josef to help protect her is not a little thing for Mick. He's really worried about Coraline getting to her. Beth makes her decision and slowly nods at him. She knows Mick isn't a lightweight when it comes to these things, and if he tells her to do something it's the best thing for the situation. "Deal. I give you my word that, no matter what, I will do exactly what you say."

Beth gets up and follows Mick down to the kitchen and he pours her a glass of A positive and they head for the living room. Mick sits on the couch and Beth snuggles up next to him. "This is nice."

"I want you to think about a couple things. You have a great deal of vamp appeal. I need you to be careful around males you don't know. Remember how Castillo reacted to you? Imagine what might have happened if it had been a different setting and Josef wasn't there?"

Beth shivers. "I see your point. I'll be careful."

"The other thing is this connection that you have with Josef and I. Beth, the thing is you need to see if you can control it. Josef said that if you had control you could have shut him out and saved yourself a lot of pain, and not had to wait for him to stop it at his end."

Mick watches her process this.

"Mick, do you think if I had enough control that I would have been able to stop Josef's pain too?"

Mick shrugs. "No idea, but keep it in mind. Although hopefully neither of us will ever need you to do something like that. We'll just have to wait and see what comes of it."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Julia and Elaina warily watch the woman at the desk in the corner. She comes every night now and sits in the room with them. She's waiting for something and neither Julia nor Elaina knows what it could be. She never says anything to them she just sits and watches them.

Julia recognizes her as the woman that was with Lorenzo when she told him she had seen Mr. St. John, but there is something different about the woman and Julia can't figure out what it is.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick is going to go out and see if he can track down Julia Tejada. He's become worried because she didn't call him with the additional information, and he hasn't been able to reach her. He's afraid that Castillo finally got fed up with her and killed her.

They've spent the last few days staking out several of the most likely places that Castillo would be keeping Elaina. They broke into a couple of places, but so far no luck. While Mick is trying to track down Julia, Beth decides to go back over her notes and see if something else jumps out at her.

She sees a listing for a house that is in the foothills of the Santa Anna's. Her notes say that the house sat abandoned for some fifty plus years, which is why she crossed it off the list in the first place, thinking there can't be much left of it. She sees there is a notation here for the real estate agent that sold it to Tejada a couple of years ago. She shrugs and dials the phone. What's she got to lose?

A receptionist answers the phone Buck Edelson real estate. "Yes, I would like to speak to Mr. Edelson about some property."

The receptionist puts her through. "Hello?"

"Mr. Edelson, hi, this is Beth Turner. I'm doing a story for the LA Times and was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions?"

The line is quiet for a second "Is this the Beth Turner that use to do the news for Buzzwire?"

Beth smiles. "Hopefully you won't hold that against me, but yes, one in the same."

"Young lady my news watching hasn't been the same since you disappeared from my monitor. You're pretty, but you were good too, probably to good to be stuck at Buzzwire."

"That's kind of you to say. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions about a house you sold a few years ago?"

"For you, anything. Ask away."

Beth gives him the address and the line goes very quiet. All of a sudden he sounds very wary. "Why do you ask about that particular house?"

"It's just in line with a story I'm doing. Is there something wrong? I'm doing a story on old abandoned houses in the area that could be used for other things if they were rejuvenated," she lied. She wondered at the man's complete turn around. Maybe it was because he knew whom or should she say what owned the property.

"Ms. Turner, let me call you right back, an important call just came in."

Beth scrunches up her nose. If he calls Castillo she's sunk but she can't think what else she can do. "Ok, please call me." She gives him her number and hangs up.

Ten minutes later the phone rings. "Hello?"

"Ms. Turner, this is Buck Edelson." He sounded much better, "I'm to tell you to go see Josef. He said you know where his office is. He said to tell you Charles Fitzgerald had the house built. He said you would understand."

Beth laughs. "Yes, I do."

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**I know that this was kind of a slow chapter but…set up for the next one. As you've all been told over and over, reviews always make me happy :)  
**


	20. Chapter 20

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. She makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth calls Mick and gets his answering service. "Hey, I'm going over to Josef's office to talk to him about a house that Castillo owns that was built by Charles Fitzgerald. If you get this in time, you can catch me there. After that I'll probably just come back home. Love you. Bye."

Beth enters Josef's office and, for once, the place isn't littered with assistants and freshies. "Wow, where is everyone?"

Josef shrugs. "It's actually the in-between time, too early for some and too late for others. You know, I'm an equal opportunity employer of humans and vamps alike. Where's Mick?"

"He's out checking on the welfare of a client. I left him a message." She smiles across the desk at him.

He watches her and shakes his head. He knows that look. "We are not having this conversation_._"_ I am not talking to a woman I want and can't bed about sex and blood._

Beth giggles. "Oh, come on Josef. I have questions. You're my sire. You're supposed to answer my vampire questions for me."

Josef rolls his eyes at her._ This is not a good idea._ He looks at her, wondering if she really wants to know or she just wants to get under his skin. He shrugs. "Ok, my fledgling, ask away." _Who in their right mind can resist that smile? _

Beth scrunches her nose at him. "Ok, are the girls all virgins?"

Josef looks at her with a glint in his eye. "That question is actually none of your business, and if you want to know you'll have to ask each one of them personally."

Beth nods. "OK, I'll give you that. You're probably right. So answer me this, were they all virgins when you first hired them? Is it a requirement of initial employment as a freshie?"

Josef smirks at her. "It can be….depends on the girl."

"And the reason for that is?"

Josef sighs. "Some blood types, well, most blood types taste better that way."

Beth smiles at him. "Josef, I know you've been doing this for four hundred years; is there really a difference in taste or is this some guy thing?"

Josef looks at her indignantly. "This is not some guy thing. I'm a four hundred year old vampire, not a guy."

Beth laughs. "Josef you may be a four hundred year old vampire, but believe me, you are most definitely a guy. If I gave you two glasses of blood, you could actually tell which one came from a virgin?"

"Yes."_ Baby, I will show you some guy things if you keep this up._

She snickers at him. Then how come Mick said, that your girls start out that way, but don't always stay that way? Josef, are you playing with your food?"

_That. Is. It._ "Let me ask you this my girl, after you fed at Jenny's last week what was the first thing you and Mick did after you left there? Did you even make it to the apartment first?"

If Beth could have still turned red she would have turned several shades, as it was, all she could do was get up and walk out. She got to the door and Josef was standing there with his arms out. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Jealousy is an ugly emotion. Talking to you about sex and blood when I can't have you makes me cranky."

"No, I started it. I just wanted to tease you a little bit. I guess some things just have to be off limits."

He gives her a lusty smile. "We can have an in depth discussion on this subject with a demonstration and everything when you move back. How's that?"

She starts to laugh at him and then realization dawns on Beth. "Wait a minute, backup a second. So, you're saying I didn't taste as good as any of the girls when you turned me because I wasn't a virgin?"

Josef looks at the ceiling and swears he's going to stake Mick the very next time he sees him. He takes her hands in his and looks at the unshed tears in her eyes. "Baby, you tasted, and still do, sweeter than any freshie or vamp I've ever had."

"Really?"

"Yes, because you have something that none of them has, my heart. Love mixed with desire tastes better than anything else there is."

Beth smiles at him through soft wet lashes. "Thank you Josef, I love you too. I'm going to the ladies room and repair my makeup. I'll be right back."

"I'll be right here, and I am sorry." He brushes her fingertips with his lips and lets go of her hands.

Beth walks down the hall to the bathroom.

Mick gets off the elevator and he can sense Beth's distress and worse he can smell her tears. He walks into Josef's office scowling. "What the hell happened? Beth's been crying."

Josef is standing at his desk toying with a stake in his hand. "It's your fault you stupid ass." Mick sees the stake in Josef's hand and eyes him warily. "She came in her wanting to tease me about the girls, and I got cranky and said something stupid." Josef comes around the desk and taps Mick in the middle of his chest with the sharp end of the stake. "But remember this, buddy, you're the one that thought it was so damn funny to point her and her questions about this in my direction. I suggest that from now on if she wants to talk about sex and blood then she talks about it with whoever she's living with, or else next time I take the discussion to a higher level whether she's living with me or not."

Mick gets Josef's implication and the two of them stand there staring at each other.

Josef throws the stake back on top of his desk in disgust.

Beth reenters the office and immediately senses the tension and decides to try to ignore it in hopes that it will go away. Josef walks over to her and kisses her on the cheek. He glances up in time to see Mick glower at him. _Too damn bad. Turnabout is fair play._

Josef looks into her eyes. "Are we ok now?"

Beth smiles at him and nods.

Beth glances up at the two of them and scowls. "Knock it off both of you. I have a hunch that you don't act like this when I'm not around, so stop acting like it when I am."

They both have the decency to pretend like they are ashamed of themselves, but she suspects they aren't.

Beth mumbles something about dating women next time. Josef pipes up first. "Only if we can watch." And both men start laughing and the tension is finally broken.

Josef smiles at her. "Ok, Beth, Buck said you were asking about that place that Charles had built in the Santa Anna foothills. What's up?"

"Josef, when was the last time you saw the house? Do you have any idea what kind of condition it's in? Did you own it until it was sold to Tejada? Did you ever actually live in it?"

Josef laughs at her excitement and holds up his hand. "Good grief. I'd forgotten what it was like to be grilled by you. Let me start at the beginning. Several years before I moved to LA, I started planning for an escape, just in case. I've always got an escape plan, just for fear that the torch and pitch fork bunch might show up again. Anyway part of the contingency was to build that house. As with all the houses I have built, it was built with the best quality materials at the time. I never knew if the house would be left empty for long stretches of time, so I have it built with that in mind so it won't deteriorate. I haven't seen the house in years, but if the subsequent owners did what they were suppose to, the house itself is probably in fine shape. I never lived there. By the time I left New York, I had made a great deal more money and when I got out here I wanted to live closer in to LA than that house is, so I bought this one instead. I finally sold that house to someone two years ago, but Buck handled the sale; so I didn't even know or care whom he sold it to. So, your turn, tell me why this house is so important."

"I think this is the place where Castillo is holding Elaina. Josef, if you can tell us about the house then Mick and I can go in, see if she's there and get her out."

Josef looks at Mick like he's crazy. "You're not taking her in there with you." Beth notices this is not a question, this is a statement, even a command.

Mick sighs and gets up. He walks to the windows and stares out. "I've already had this conversation. If you want to have it as well, then go right ahead, but I can tell you, you might as well not bother."

Josef turns to Beth. "Are you out of your mind? If Coraline gets her hands on you, somebody besides Coraline is apt to end up dead."

Beth rolls her eyes and starts to turn for the door. "Mick, get whatever you can from him. I'm done having this discussion."

She turns towards the door only to find Josef once again blocking the doorway. He's looking at her very darkly "You aren't going anywhere until I say so."

She snorts at him. "I will do what I want."

"I am still your sire and you will do as I say."

"Damn it, Josef. You don't get to switch back and forth between sire and lover when it's convenient, for whatever it is you think you're going to tell me I can't do at the time."

The two of them stand toe-to-toe staring intently at each other. Beth knows she can argue with him but she also knows that, until he's ready he's not moving and she can't get past him. Finally Mick breaks the silence. "Josef, she gave me her word that she would do whatever I say without question no matter what. If she does that, then I should be able to make sure she stays safe."

"I don't like it." Josef growls at Mick.

"Neither do I, but short of locking her in the security office at your place, I don't see what else to do."

Josef looks like he's contemplating the prospect of locking her up.

Beth interrupts. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here."

Josef looks at her. "You have no idea how tempted I am to just lock you up."

Beth narrows her eyes at him. "You wouldn't dare."

"You know me better than that. I most certainly would dare, but I won't." He still doesn't move from the doorway. "You know what? The things I love about you are also the same things that make me crazy." He shakes his head and moves from the doorway. "Please stay. I don't like it, but I'll trust Mick to keep you safe, however I want a call before and after you go in."

Beth nods and kisses his cheek

Josef brushes her cheek with the back of his hand and then moves to his desk. "I don't know if they've done any remodeling since I sold the place, but I can give you the original blueprints so you can see what the house was like when I owned it."

Josef pushes the intercom. "Ryder, you know that house I owned out in the foothills?"

"Yea, what about it?"

"The blueprints are in the archives. Can you find them, and have one of the runners bring them to me?"

"Sure. No problem. Josef, do you want the aerial photos of the area as well. "

"Very good idea. Also send a long any maps you have of the area."

Fifteen minutes later, one of Ryder's assistants enters and lays the blue prints and maps on his desk and leaves without a word.

Josef unrolls the plans and they spend the next couple hours going over the obvious exits and entrances, but also a few that were put in that no one knows about but Josef and the builder, who is now deceased. When they are finally done with the blueprints, they move to the maps of the area.

Beth is starting to get cranky. Without a word, Josef walks over to the bar and pours a glass of AB negative and hands it to her. He looks at Mick who nods and he pours two more glasses for the two of them as well. Then he goes back to the map, pointing out anything he thinks they will need to know about the area. Beth drinks the blood down and immediately feels better. He glances at her. "Being mad at me is not a good enough reason to forget to feed. Stop letting your anger get the better of you. Coraline will use that against you if she gets the chance." He glances at Mick. "Both of you."

Beth scowls at him. She hates it when he so easily reads her mind.

Josef stops and looks at Mick hopefully. "You know you could take Dave and some of his men as backups."

Mick shakes his head. "If they see us coming, they may just kill her. No, if we go in it has to be quietly."

Beth looks over at Mick. "Can we go in tonight?"

Mick has a bad feeling about this, but doesn't know what to do. "Yes, let's get this over with." He shrugs at Josef. "Who knows, it may be as empty as the last few we've been to."

Josef glowers realizing that this is not the first of these places Beth has been in. He shakes his head and puts his finger under her chin. "You call me. I mean it."

She smiles at him. She knows whatever cross words they have, it all boils down to one thing, he loves her and he's worried. "I will. I'll call you tonight before we leave."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Beth picks up the phone and calls Josef. "We're leaving in a few minutes."

There is a pause on Josef's end. "I can't talk you in to staying out of this can I?"

"No."

"I love you. Please be careful and call me when you get back."

"I love you too, and I'll call you the minute we're clear of the place."

"Let me talk to Mick."

"No."

"Beth, Damn it. Do what I tell you."

She snickers. "No. Look Josef threatening Mick isn't going to make it any better. You know he'll do absolutely everything he can to make sure I'm safe."

Josef sighs. "You know me too well. I love you." And he hangs up. Josef stares into the night. He considers going out there and meeting them and maybe lending some backup himself, but he thinks that he better stay put. If this is some kind of plot between Castillo and Coraline to get to him, then he may be of more use where he can manipulate the situation from the outside if the worst happens.

Beth runs up the stairs to get ready.

Mick watches Beth across the room as she pulls the black sweater over her head. "You know watching you get dressed is not nearly as fun as watching you get undressed."

She smiles at him. "I think I'm ready to go. Let's see, I'm dressed from head to toe in black so I'm either a vampire or a cat burglar or both."

Mick cross the room and pulls Beth into his arms. "What you are is beautiful."

She gives him a quick kiss and turns to move away from him but before she can get far he's brought her back and is kissing her passionately. Beth lets out a moan. The kiss continues and Mick's hands slowly drift up underneath Beth's sweater. Beth backs up waging her finger at him as he stands there laughing at her. "We have stuff to do first."

"Ok." He grabs her hand. "Let's go save the day and then we can celebrate."

"Celebrate how?"

Mick shrugs and smiles at her mischievously. "We'll think of something."

Mick jumps to the top of the wall and sniffs the air, humans, but nothing else so far. He looks down behind him and motions for Beth to join him. He watches as she makes the leap easily and lands like a cat.

He wonders how well armed they are and if Castillo has armed them with silver bullets. Would he take that chance? Good to have, in case someone like Mick shows up, but they can also be used against Castillo as well. The more Mick thinks about it the more he's convinced that Castillo doesn't trust anyone enough to arm them with something that can hurt him that much. He's sure that Coraline doesn't trust a human that much.

Mick hops down off the wall and Beth follows, landing silently next to him. He glances at her. Mick has a feeling that, with little encouragement, Beth could easily end up a danger junkie. Next time Josef decides to drive too fast he might find Beth sitting right next to him. Beth's basic personality is the same as when she was human. She's still kind and loving, but her wild side is getting more of a work out. Mick smiles to himself thinking back to the dent in his car and the fact that she's here with him; he can't say as though he's helping tame it much either. He just needs make sure she's not reckless.

Mick takes point and winds his way through the thicket that was once probably a beautiful landscape.

Mick stops in the shadows not far from the servant's entrance. Beth follows him to the door. He gives her a nod. She smiles and pulls out her lock pick set. She hears the almost silent click and she pushes the door open. Mick motions for her to stay close and they cautiously move through the house. Mick stops short of the doorway and flattens himself against the wall. Beth mimics his actions on the other side of the doorway. An older man walks through the door. He sees Beth and his eyes get big. He starts to yell and Mick grabs him from behind. Mick applies soft pressure to the man's carotid artery and he goes limp. Mick tries to get a sense of the past from the man but nothing comes to him. Beth reaches over and gently nicks the man with a sharp fingernail. A couple drops of blood appear and Mick tries again. Mick sees the man going about his duties around the house. At one point the man takes a tray of food up a set of stairs and hands it to a man guarding a room.

Mick looks around and sees a storage closet. He stuffs the man inside and locks the door. Mick motions to Beth to follow him and they get deeper into the house. Something is bothering Mick, but he can't quite put his finger on it. Something is not right.

Mick hopes the reason there are so few people around is that it's so late at night they only have a small crew watching over the house. They search for Elaina as they make their way through the house. They enter into a large entryway with a huge winding staircase. It finally comes to Mick what is bugging him. If Elaina is being held here and Castillo is using her as his own personal freshie, then why is there absolutely no smell of vampire here at all? If it's not Elaina in the room with the guard, who is it? It doesn't really matter in the end. Mick can't leave any human in this place against their will. He motions to Beth and they slowly go up the winding staircase. The guarded room has to be up here.

They get to the landing at the top and Mick peaks around the corner. He sees a man sleeping in a chair at the end of the hallway. The man has a shotgun lying across his legs. If this doesn't work, Mick hopes that the gun isn't loaded with silver shot. Getting those loads from Leejay that time was bad enough. He doesn't want that to happen again. It hurt like hell and could have killed him.

Mick motions for Beth to stay put. She nods and watches Mick speed down the hall and silence the man before he knows what hit him. Mick cracks open the shotgun and finds it is loaded with normal everyday loads. No silver. He was right about Castillo not trusting anyone that much.

Mick looks down the hall and sees Beth peaking around the corner. He motions for her to come down and join him. Mick feels three heartbeats behind the door. He wonders just who is in that room. He gives a mental shrug. _Good a time as any_. He looks down to break the lock but finds that Beth has already picked it and it's hanging from the hasp. He hands the shotgun to her. He removes the lock and glances at Beth. He motions for her to stay close. He pushes the door open and the first thing he sees is Elaina and Julia sitting together on the end of the bed. Julia lets out a gasp and starts to cry. "Mr. St. John, I'm so sorry."

Elaina turns to her mother. "Mama, what have you done?"

Mick looks at Elaina sadly, "Whatever she had to, in order to save her child."

And Mick realizes why this whole set up seems so wrong. It's a trap. He didn't listen to his better instincts and now he's brought Beth into a trap. He pushes the door open farther and sitting in a chair across the room is Coraline. "So, you're human again."

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**As I never fail to remind everyone, reviews and comments always make me happy. :)  
**


	21. Chapter 21

**Not mine...Belongs to CBS...wish it were mine...love the show...miss it terribly. **

**Thanks to Mrs Boyscout for the great Beta. As always, she makes me sound coherent and improves my stories.**

**Takes place after Josh dies but Mick is still a vampire. This is a sequel to Rescued**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

"So nice of you to join our little group. Is that Beth I see behind you?"

A shiver runs down Beth's back as she hears Coraline laugh. "I can't believe you brought her with you. How nice of you. You've saved my men having to go and pick her up."

Mick keeps mentally reaching out, trying to see if there are any vampires around and still he senses no one, but he and Beth. "Coraline, what is to stop me from snapping your very human neck?"

"Not a thing, love. Just your stupid morals."

Mick grins at her as he thinks of what he will do to make sure Coraline doesn't get her hands on Beth. "Coraline, you have no idea who I am anymore or what I'm capable of doing to protect what's mine."

Coraline snort. "What's yours? I can't believe I sired a vamp that would share his woman with another, and Josef, my God, Josef Kostan sharing a woman and actually being faithful when they are together. What is the world coming to?"

Coraline gets up and slowly circles the pair. She stays well away, fully aware that Mick could get to her and kill her in the blink of an eye. She continues her tirade. "I'm appalled Mick. You use to have some fire to you; you use to have some passion."

Coraline whirls when she hears Beth snicker. "You bitch. What are you laughing about?"

Beth peeks around Mick smiling maliciously. "Oh, he still has loads of fire and passion, just not for you, but believe me dear; he's still got lots of passion." Beth winks at Coraline.

Coraline forgets she's human for a minute and thinks about making a play to snap Beth's neck, but then hears Mick growl and remembers her plan. She needs to get them both in position.

"He can't have too much if he's sharing you with Josef."

Mick feels the sting of her words. It's not that he cares what Coraline thinks, he doesn't. It's just that there's this little part of their relationship that is still sire and fledgling. Mick feels a little like an mistreated kid who wants just an ounce of compassion from an abusive parent. The thing with Coraline is that she's always known just what buttons to push, just how to make him crazy.

She shakes her head. "What I want to know is what's so fascinating? What does she have that is so captivating that the two of you would go to these lengths for her?"

Beth can feel the pain and anger coming off Mick and is afraid that Coraline is trying to goad him into doing something stupid. Beth lightly puts her hand between his shoulder blades and gently rubs his back in small circles. She feels him instantly let go of some of the emotion. Coraline sees it in his face as well.

She sneers at Mick. "That's right. Let your little whore keep you in check like a dog on a leash. There was a time when you would have killed me already."

Beth presses her hand into his back and concentrates on how much she loves Mick. She breathes in his scent and radiates that love back to him. Mick feels the force of what she's doing back there and stays calm, in fact, he smiles. "Coraline, Beth just reminded me what love really is." Mick turns to Elaina and Julia. "Ladies it's time to get the hell out of here."

They both start to cross the room to the door and stop when they hear a terrible scream of anger from Coraline. She launches herself at Mick and Beth. "I will kill your little bitch."

Mick reaches out and snaps her neck before she can ever get close to Beth. He looks down at her broken form on the floor. "I told you I would protect what's mine." Mick nods for the three women to head for the door. "That's probably going to have alerted her guards. We need to get out of here."

As Mick moves to the door the smell of another vampire hits him full in the face. He knows that smell; he knows that vampire intimately. "Damn" He turns around and there, back in her full glory, is his ex wife once again the vampire that he's always known. "So that's what ends the cure…your own death."

She smiles cruelly at him. "Yes, love. You could have stayed human for years and the only thing that would have ended it was your death. The most interesting thing is that you don't even revert to the age you've become. You go back to the age you were when you took the cure. It's very nice in that way. Of course, you gave up your chance to become human again now that Beth is one of us. So really, you gave it up twice."

Mick shakes his head. "Not twice. It was taken from me the first time. No, this is the only time I've chosen to be a vampire and, you know, it's pretty damn good since I have someone who loves me to share it with."

The two circle each other. Mick can see that Coraline is trying to get close to Beth. Mick looks at Beth and winks at her. "I love you. It's time to go." And turns his attention back to Coraline. He watches out of the corner of his eye as Beth and the two women move to the door. Beth stops as she hears footsteps coming up the stairs, lots of footsteps.

Beth turns back to Mick. He hears it also She watches his eyes as they travel to the locked window across the room. He tips his head to her and nods. Mick's words ring in her head. _'Do you understand the lengths I would go to get you back?'_ Beth knows what he wants her to do, what she has to do. Mick maneuvers Coraline away from the window and gives Beth a clear path. Beth presses the shotgun into Elana's hand and gives her a nod of reassurance. "I'll be back with help." She starts running and dives through the glass. It shatters in a million pieces all around her. As she makes the jump she hears Coraline scream in frustration.

Mick and Coraline continue to circle each other. Mick tries to keep Coraline away from the two women left in the room. They have moved to a far corner and the open door is blocking her sight of them.

Coraline smiles as she watches Mick try to protect the women and keep Coraline from going out the window after Beth all at the same time. She uses his divided attention against him and maneuvers him close to the desk in the corner. Swiftly she reaches over and moves the chair which trips the trap door Mick is standing over. She watches as he falls through the floor and hits the wooden stakes sticking out of the floor with a sickening thud.

She looks over the edge at him. "Oh, does that hurt darling? Sorry about that." As she starts to straighten up she hears the gun blast about the time it hits her. The force of it pushes her into the hole in the floor and impales her as well.

The recoil knocks Elaina to the floor. Shakily she stands again. "I may end up dead for that, but, by God, that bitch is not going to get away clean."

Her mother looks at her. "Do you think you killed her?"

Elaina shakes her head. "No, or the man and woman who came to rescue us would have used it on her when she turned into a vampire."

Julia slams the door and turns to her daughter. "There is no way out for us but at least we may be able to give Ms. Turner a head start if they don't realize she's not still up here. She was very nice to me and I did this to her. I owe her that much." They wedge the chair under the handle and hold the door, hoping that they can stall long enough for Beth to get away.

Beth hits the ground running. She hears someone yell behind her and she doesn't look back. She's so thankful she is used to playing tag with Mick. These humans will be easy to evade in the dark. She just needs to find a safe place so she can call Josef. Beth reaches into her pocket for her phone. "Shit." She must of lost in the dive through the window. Then the pain hits her in waves. Mick is hurt. She concentrates and gently pulls herself away from the pain. If she lets it overwhelm her, they are all lost. She concentrates on him and her love for him.

Then she hears their equalizer. She hears the bark of dogs. "Damn." If they get her scent she won't be able to hide from them. She contemplates going for the Benz. She decides that since the whole set up as a trap that they probably already have the car guarded. No, it's going to be a long run. She stands very still for a moment. She reaches out to find the sun and the moon and get her bearings. Thanks to Josef and his maps she knows the closest town is east and so she runs through the night towards the sunrise.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Lorenzo looks down at his watch. According to plan he leaves to see Kostan now. Corline hasn't called him to change plans so it's a go. He gets in his BMW and drives to Kostan's mansion. He gets out of the car and looks around and smiles. It will be nice when all this belongs to him. Taking it away from Kostan and his laughing bitch will be satisfying. He just hopes Coraline lets her live long enough to see the results of their plan.

Josef is pacing back and forth in his study. If this was the easy in and out rescue mission that they had all hoped for Beth should have called by now. He stares at the phone willing her to call.

Robert enters the study. "There is a Mr. Castillo at the door. He would like a word with you."

Josef immediately vamps out.

Robert realizes there is trouble. "What's the matter?"

"If Castillo is here then it looks like Coraline has Beth and Mick."

Robert narrows his eyes. "Let's kill the son of a bitch."

Josef shakes his head. "Not yet. We will keep him here. Holding him may be our only way to bargain for them. Give me a couple minutes then show him in."

Josef sits back in his chair and reaches out to Beth. They've never tried this, but if he can sense her state of being he will know how badly they have hurt her. He senses her and she's a frightened, but she is fine. He realizes she's not even frightened for herself; she's freighted for Mick, so they must have him. He jerks forward when it dawns on him and smiles. They don't have her. She's free. Josef starts to laugh to himself. They are fools. As long as Beth stays free, Lorenzo's life is forfeited.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Coraline feels strong hands gently lifting her from the stakes. Then a wrist is offered up. She smiles and sinks her fangs into the familiar appendage. Soon she is standing, looking at her chief guardian. He has sworn an oath of fidelity to her and in return she gives him the pleasure of her fangs. He would do anything to have her feed from him. Coraline turns to Dugan and strokes his cheek. "Now, tell me you've captured the woman."

He bows her to her. "I'm sorry mistress. We have the dogs chasing her, but she is indeed on the run. We have the car so she can't use it to get away. It's just a matter of time until the dogs get her scent."

Coraline snaps orders to him "Make sure she is found. Now get some one to shackle him and make sure you use the silver cuffs."

He bows again. "Yes, Mistress."

Beth runs through the night. Unfortunately, the dogs finally have gotten wind of her. She needs a distraction. She sniffs the air and finds what she's looking for. She veers away from her course and silently ducks into the cave. She smells the air and to her heightened vampire senses it makes her want to retch. This cave belongs to predators, lesser ones than herself, but predators all the same. There is a family of cougars living in this cave. The female smells her and roars at her. Beth smells the kittens in the corner and smiles. One more reason for the cat to keep the dogs at bay. Beth lets her inner predator loose. She stares the animal down and roars back at her. The cat slinks off, leaving Beth alone. Beth moves farther back into the cave. She hears the dogs come upon the cave. They stop and start to whine their trainers trying to urge them on. One man gets his dog to enter, and she hears him scream as the big cat rips him apart. She hears the dog yelping in retreat. Beth sits down and waits, hoping the humans will think the dogs got crossed up with the cat and lost her scent.

Mick wakes to pain. His injuries from the stakes are healing very slowly. He needs blood. He tries to free his hands. More pain hits him and he realizes the cuffs holding him to the iron bed are made with a silver alloy. Mick opens his eyes slowly and looks around. Across from him, he sees Elaina and Julia sitting on iron beds much like the one he is laying on. The difference is they are both free to move around the room. Elaina crosses the room when she sees he is awake. Mick tries to hold up his hand to stop her. "Stay away…. I don't want to hurt you."

She stops and watches him. "You need blood Mr. St. John."

"No. I might hurt you."

She shakes her head. "I have spent the last year around the more deadly of your kind. I know enough to know that you cannot heal without blood. You must take my blood. I fear you are our only way out of here, and if you are to weak and hurt then it won't matter if you take too much from me or not. You must get well, so we can get out of here when the chance arises."

Mick closes his eyes. What is it with these damn woman all the time wanting to feed him when they shouldn't? "When was the last time Castillo drank from you?"

It's been almost three weeks. I think he has been too busy with his new whore."

Mick sighs. "Ok, give me a minute." Mick closes his eyes and thinks of Beth and when she was still human and fed him. He reaches out to Beth and feels her reaching back to him, trying to ease his pain and calm him. He motioned for Elaina to come to him. She sits next to him on the bed and starts to move her hair as Beth did so long ago, but he shakes his head and takes her wrist in his grasp and as gently as he can he extends his fangs and starts to feed.

Beth sits in the dark of the cave and feels Mick in her heart. He needs her to help him. His pain is less than it was. She feels some fear from him, but not fear for himself. Fear for her and another. She realizes he's getting ready to feed and it frightens him like it did in the desert. She takes a deep breath and calms him, helping him keep his bloodlust at bay.

Mick feels Elaina's blood coursing through him, feels it healing him and fueling him. He and Beth both realize he has taken enough and he gently removes Elaina's wrist from his mouth, licking the wounds clean, he watches to make sure they heal. He closes his eyes and smiles as he feels his connection with Beth. He can feel that she is still free and unhurt.

Beth reaches out to her surroundings to see if she can feel any humans still around. She seems to be alone except for the cougars. Beth cautiously moves to the entrance of the cave, sensing everything she can to feel if she is alone. She takes a deep breath and realizes she's running out of time. She either has to make the run now without interruption or stay in the cave. Daybreak isn't far off and she can't be caught out without shelter. There is no way for her to know if she can find another cave to stay in. Beth realizes she can't leave Mick with Coraline any longer than necessary, so she must make the run now and hope she can get there before daybreak. She returns to her easterly destination and runs as fast as she can.

Mick hears Coraline barking out orders and yelling at her guards. He motions to Elaina to go back to her cot and she does. The door swings open and Coraline storms in. She takes one look at Mick and turns to Elaina. "So you fed him. I see he's healed. Well, it won't help you any. You're never leaving this room again." She looks at Mick again and is surprised at the smug look on his face. "We will find her, and then you and Josef will pay. I would kill you now, but as long as you are alive she will stay in the area to save you, making it easier to capture her."

Mick laughs. "No, you won't. If you don't have her by now, more time isn't going to help you any. How long has it been, three maybe four hours? She's free and she's staying that way. As for Josef paying, without her, you've got nothing. Josef will never trade for me. We made that decision a long time ago. We won't bargain for the other. "

"I wouldn't be so smug. The dogs will find her."

Mick starts to laugh. "Where's Castillo? Did he get cold feet and abandon you?"

"No, he should be with Josef by now."

Mick snickers at her. "You should have called him off when you didn't get Beth. Once Josef realizes you don't have her, Castillo is effectively a dead man. Josef will kill him and never look back, and then he will come for you. He won't have a prayer against Josef and you know it."

"I would have done as you suggested, but thanks to Lorenzo's bitch over there I was impaled on a stake at the time, or I would have called him to stop him." Coraline swings around and faces Elaina. "Don't think I've forgotten you; I will settle with you once I'm done with my darling ex here and his bitch. As it is, I may still have some use for you." Coraline storms out of the room and the door bangs shut behind her.

Mick looks across at Elaina and Julia. "Either of you know how to pick the lock on these cuffs?"

Elaina smiles. "Yes, Mr. St. John, I do. I need something to pick it with though."

Julia looks at her daughter somewhat surprised and hands her bobby pin from her hair. "Were did you learn such a skill?"

Elaina smiles at her mother. "Not all of Papa's guards were upstanding citizens. One of them taught me to pick locks when I was about 15." Elaina takes the bobby pin from her mother. "Now, watch the door and tell me if someone is coming. This isn't going to be easy."

Julia moves to the door to watch for trouble.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**I know, nag nag nag…I love reviews.** **Go ahead make my day. :)  
**


	22. Chapter 22

**Not mine. belongs to CBS or whoever, love the show, miss it terribly.  
**

**I want to thank everyone who's been commenting. It always make me feel like it's worth the time. **

**This is sequel to Rescued**

**Thanks to my wonderful Beta Reader/Editor...Mrs. Boyscout  
**

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Josef sits across from Castillo watching the man to judge how much resolve he has for this plan of theirs. Josef smiles to himself; it will be a pleasure to kill him. Coraline had to know when she sent him here that he would never return. She cannot be so stupid as to believe that Josef will let him live. Josef knows that if Coraline gets to Beth she will kill her and there will be no real trade. Coraline hates Beth too much to let her go. Not for love or money.

Lorenzo watches Josef and again realizes just how powerful this old vampire is, but not today. Today, Lorenzo has the power. "We have your woman and your friend. If you do not do as I say Coraline will kill them."

Josef smiles thinly at Lorenzo. "First I will never bargain for Mick. We made that pact a long time ago. We are brothers, but we won't be used against each other. We both make too many enemies for that. As for Beth, you are incorrect. You do not have her and as long as she stays free, your life is forfeited."

Lorenzo watches Josef warily as Josef picks up the saber off of its display stand behind his desk. "You know, the last time I held this cutlass, I killed a woman who was close to five hundred years old. I cared about her for almost three hundred of those years, but she betrayed me and I killed her with this very cutlass. I've known you for let's see….all of maybe three months….what do you think your odds are?"

Lorenzo gulps. He realizes he's not likely to make it to five hundred.

Lorenzo eyes him warily. "We have her. She walked into our trap. She is locked up with St. John."

Josef laughs. "No, you don't." Josef stands up and starts to pace the room.

Josef decides the best thing to do is to stall and see how this develops. As long as he's tapped into Beth and knows she's safe he can wait for her to call and tell him where she is.

Castillo looks confused. "Have you spoken to her?" Josef shakes his head. "How could you know that we do not have her?"

Josef laughs again. "You have no idea what she can do, do you? Remember the night at the party when you approached her?" Lorenzo nods. "When you came to the party, was that your intention?"

"No, not at all. I went there to see if I could assess what I was up against in order to challenge you for control of the city. It was a stupid mistake that made you put up your defenses."

Josef nods. " I agree. I would not have seen you coming quite so readily if you had not approached the one thing I would risk anything to protect, Beth." Josef shakes his head. "I know that you don't or can't understand this but she has a power about her that is compelling. In four hundred years I have loved, slept with, and bitten a fair amount of women. I like them, I respect them and I treat them well. I have never met one like her. The emotional connection with her is so overwhelming that Mick and I both are seriously addicted to her.

Josef is punctuating his sentences with the cutlass in his hand. He doesn't want Castillo to forget that he could kill him in a heartbeat. Josef looks off into the distance feeling for Beth. "Yes, she's quite safe. I assure you of that."

Castillo shakes his head. "I still do not understand why you do not kill each other. Especially if, as you say, she is so intoxicatingly addictive."

Josef snort. "You and me both. All I can tell you is, if it were anyone else in the world I'd have dropped him into a hole without a second thought. Mick…well, the other thing I've seen little of in four hundred years besides a woman like Beth, is a friend like Mick." Josef smirks, "I don't know who it would be worse to lose." Josef shakes his head. "Mick is closer to me than anyone else except Beth." Josef smirks. "And that's probably only because I don't sleep with him."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mick hears the click of the lock on the cuffs and Elaina smiles down at him. "I believe you are free." She gently removes the cuffs and watches the burns on his wrists immediately start to heal.

He rubs his wrist and smiles at her. "Thank you. Now let's see about getting out of here."

Mick realizes what their makeshift cell was when Josef owned the house. "This used to be a wine cellar. I believe if we move this cabinet right over here that we will find a passage." Mick quietly moves the cabinet and indeed behind it is an arch leading to a passageway. "Come ladies let's get you to safety. Mick enters the passage and once they are inside with him he moves the cabinet back into place as best he can. Hopefully they will not notice it has been moved for awhile, and he can get the women to safety.

There is nothing but inky blackness and the squeal of rodents making their objections known about being disturbed. He can see in the dark, but they cannot so he moves slowly. Even his eyes have limited sight in this darkness. "Don't be afraid. It isn't that far and then when we are out of here, you will be able to see again."

Mick sees the end of the tunnel. He knows how hard it is for the two women to move through the darkness and not make any sounds of fright. "We are almost there."

They reach the end of the tunnel and Mick finds the entrance blocked by bars. Julia starts to weep silently. Mick smiles at her, "Don't worry. We aren't trapped." He walks over to the bars and they bend easily under his strength. "Come ladies. We need to find a safe place to hide you, and then I must come back and settle with Coraline."

Mick sees his car sitting there just waiting for his return. It was nice of them to bring it to him. "Can either of you drive a stick shift?"

Julia nods. "Yes. It has been a long time, but I believe I can still do it."

Mick nods. "Good. See that green Benz sitting by the front gate?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to go over and take care of the guards and then I'm going to see about starting it up. When you hear the engine please come running. Is there a safe place for you? Somewhere Castillo doesn't know about? Someplace safe until this is over, because once it is over he will be dead and you won't ever have to worry about him again."

Julia nods. "Yes, I know a place."

"Good. Wait forty-eight hours and then call me."

Elaina kisses his cheek "Thank you Mr. St. John and good luck."

Elaina sees the look in his eyes and the smile on his face and realized that neither has any pity in them, and it gives her a shiver. "Luck is going to have nothing to do with this. It's time to put an end to this. Now remember as soon as you hear the engine come running."

Without another word Mick moves off to the car. He sees that there is only one guard anywhere in the area. Coraline must have them all out searching for Beth. He makes quick work of the guard and sees that someone has hot-wired the car. He quickly repairs the damage and puts the key in the ignition and she roars to life. He looks up and Julia is standing next to the driver side as Elaina gets in on the passenger side. Mick moves out of the way and she slides in behind the wheel. "Now remember, keep going until you get to safety. No stops."

Julia nods. "Thank you Mr. St. John. If there is ever anything we can do for you or Ms. Turner…..."

Mick smiles. "Just be safe." And he watches as the car speeds away.

Mick starts to jog back towards the house. He stops under the window that Beth jumped through and smiles. Something catches his eye and he looks around and he sees a silver phone glinting in the moonlight. He picks it up and flips it open. It's Beth's. That explains why she hasn't contacted Josef and she's still out there on her own. He punches up Josef's number.

Josef looks down as his phone starts to ring. He turns to Lorenzo and smiles. "I'm going to go ahead and answer that. I'm sure you don't mind."

Lorenzo nods mutely at Josef. Their plan has gone terribly wrong. He was supposed to have Josef on his knees by now begging for his woman's life.

Josef knows from the ring tone that it's Beth's phone. Whether or not it is Beth is another matter. He picks up his phone and flips it open. "Hello?"

"Josef, do you have Lorenzo with you?"

"Matter of fact, I do. Do you know where our girl is?

"Not yet, but I do know they don't have her and she's not hurt. I just found her phone."

"Yes. I got the same thing from her. You were the only question. How are you doing?"

"Fine. Castillo's pretty wife donated and I got her and her mother out. They are on their way to safety. I'm going back in for Coraline. This ends now. I don't want anyone, especially Beth to have anything to fear from her again."

Josef smiles and eyes Lorenzo. "And I'll take care of things at my end."

Mick smiles grimly into the phone, "Works for me. I'll see you when it's done. Oh, and Josef, tell Beth I love her." And he hangs up.

Beth finally reaches the small town. She made it in time. The dawn is just starting to make itself felt. Quickly she walks to the gas station. "Hi, " she gives the man her best smile. She reaches out trying her best to charm him. "Can I use your phone? I've lost mine and really need to make a call." She remembers what Mick said about vamp appeal.

He smiles back at her. "Of course Miss. Here use this one right here and he moves the phone around to face her."

"Oh thank you."

Beth picks up the receiver of the old rotary phone and dials Josef's number.

Josef looks at Lorenzo once again. "I seem to be very popular at this moment. One moment and we will finish our discussion."

Josef doesn't recognize the number, but he knows its Beth. "Hey babe."

"Hey, Mick's in trouble and I need a ride."

"He's fine. I just spoke to him. He's going to deal with a problem and then call back. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I'm in a small town east of the house. Can you come get me?"

"Oh, I'll be on my way in just a couple minutes. I have a small problem to take care of myself. I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you."

"I love you to Josef." And she hangs up.

Lorenzo sees the look on Josef's face and knows he really is the dead man walking that Kostan decreed him to be those months ago. He looks down as his phone begins to ring.

Josef motions with the sword. "Please be my guest."

Lorenzo picks up the phone. "Hello?"

Coraline is surprised he is still alive but pleased. "You need to get out of there. If he finds out we don't have the girl he will kill you."

Lorenzo snorts. "I'm afraid it is too late for that."

"Let me speak to him."

Lorenzo holds out the phone to Josef. "She would like to speak to you."

Josef leans over and takes the phone with his left hand and at the same time neatly separates Lorenzo's head from his shoulders with the cutlass in his right hand. "Hello Coraline."

"Josef I have Mick, and I will kill him if you do not let Lorenzo go."

"I don't think so."

"You don't think I will kill Mick?"

"No, I don't think you have Mick, since I just spoke to him. Do you have phone service in his cell?" Josef hears silence from Coraline. "I thought not. Coraline, I think you should worry for yourself and not so much for Lorenzo."

"Josef let him go."

Josef laughs into the phone. "Too late." And he hangs up.

Mick hears a blood-curdling scream. He smiles. Apparently Coraline knows he's not where she left him.

Josef heads for the Escalade and starts dialing as soon as he gets the big SUV in gear. "Dave, take a few of your guys and head out to that house I use to own out in the foothills. Mick is out there facing off with Coraline and I believe once he takes care of her he's may need a ride out. Assess the situation when you get out there and call The Cleaner if need be. I'm on my way to pick up Beth."

"On my way Josef." And he hangs up.

Josef punches up the house. "Robert, call Victoria. There is a mess in the study."

"Already done. I take it you are going to get Beth?"

"Yes. I'll be back after I drop her at Mick's."

He hears Robert sigh in exasperation as he hangs up.

Josef drives through the early morning thinking about Beth and Mick. These two are going to drive him crazy. He smiles at the thought of his crazy extended family he's compelled to love and protect. He shrugs. It is what it is.

He pulls up in front of the small gas station and Beth comes charging out of the shadows from between the buildings. Josef reaches across the seat and pops the door open. She jumps in and slams the door behind her. She throws her arms around his neck and kisses him. She backs up and smiles at him. "I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm happy to see you too. I could feel that you were ok, but it's better to see you and know your ok." Josef swings the SUV around and heads for Mick's.

Beth turns in her seat. "Where is Mick?"

"I told you he's taking care of a problem."

"Meaning he and Coraline are finally going to end it once and for all."

Josef looks at her. "Yes. I sent Dave and a few of his people out there. We should know something soon. Mick did say that he got the women out that you went in to rescue in the first place. He also asked me to tell you he loves you."

Beth silently nods.

Mick starts jogging back again towards the house. A man comes out of the dark and Mick remembers him. He was the one that shackled Mick with the silver laced cuffs. Mick senses Coraline's mark on the man. Mick sees the gun in his hand and moves in close before Dugan can even pull the trigger. Mick snaps his wrist and the gun drops to the ground. Dugan screams from the pain and anger. Mick lets his predator out and the man is dead before he hits the ground.

_Now to find Coraline_. He walks into the house and mentally reaches out to try to find her. He sees her descending the staircase and watches her make a grand entrance like she is walking into the court of the king. Head held high, smiling like the royalty she was. He shakes his head sadly when he thinks of all her history, all that knowledge. _It's a shame she is such an evil bitch._

He watches her and notices that she carries two cutlasses. When she reaches the bottom of the stairs she doesn't say a word, she just tosses one of the weapons to him. He pulls the blade from its scabbard and fingers the blade and lets it cut him. It's plenty sharp, and should work just fine for what he has in mind. He looks at it and smiles. This is the cutlass she taught him to use long ago, in between the craziness.

Mick gives her a thin smile. The blade feels good in his hands. The muscle memory returns instantly.

Years ago, when Mick had told Josef that Coraline was teaching Mick the basics of using a cutlass Josef had offered to teach him much more. Josef and he had sparred relentlessly when Mick thought he was going to have to kill Coraline in order to be rid of her power over him. Josef understood, all to well, his friend's desperation to be rid of her.

One good thing about having a friend like Josef, who was four hundred years old is that in order to survive Josef has learned to use every weapon imaginable at one time or another. Josef was a good teacher. He knew that the most important thing for Mick to learn was how to use the sword to kill quickly.

He grimly thinks she must have known that some day it would come to this. It was truly the only way noxious relationships like theirs truly ended, with one of them dead on the floor in a pool of their own blood. The question is, now who would it be?

He realizes that they came to this road together and until today he wasn't really prepared to kill her. He tried out of desperation to save Beth when she was a child, but even then, it was desperation not a goal to be achieved.

They nod to each other, and the dance begins. They move back and forth, testing the limits and skill of the other. Mick knows he must not let on to the extent of his skill. He must be able to lure her in to the false hope that she can beat him. He knows she is good with these blades, but he needs to be better. Mick lets her catch first blood. She nicks his side, which hurts like hell, but heals immediately. He wonders when the last time she fed was. If it's been awhile, it could slow down her ability to heal. He has Elaina's blood coursing through his body, and he feels good.

Mick feints to his left and catches her right shoulder and the blade slides in deep. She drops her cutlass and grabs the shoulder in pain. The arm hangs uselessly at her side. She leans over in pain and looks up as Mick brings the blade down cleanly on her neck. This is one death she won't be coming back from.

He picks up the scabbard and walks out into the early morning light and sees Dave and his crew as they pull up. Dave gets out and notices the blade in Mick's hand and the blood dripping off of it. "I take it since you're still standing, that Coraline won't be troubling anyone again?"

Mick nods. "It's done. We're going to need a clean up."

Dave nods. He leans back into the SUV and brings out a rag and hands it to Mick. Mick wipes the blade clean and returns it to its scabbard. "I'll call Victoria and stay here until she and her people show up. Do you need a ride?"

Mick nods. "Sent mine off with the damsels in distress."

"I've got a spare set of wheels if you want to take off." Dave tosses the keys to him.

"Thanks. I'll do that. Do you know if Josef found Beth?"

"He was on his way to pick her up when we left the mansion to come here."

Mick visibly relaxes. "Then everyone is safe."

Mick drives through the morning sun. He can't wait to get home to see her. They have nine months left before she leaves again and he intends to make sure that it's a happy nine months.

Josef pulls into the parking spot at Mick's. "We're here. Do you need me to walk you up?"

"Nope. I'm fine….thank you for coming to get me."

Josef snorts. "Like I would leave you anywhere by yourself. You know better than that." He leans over and kisses her on the cheek. "You take care and say hi to Mick for me."

Beth caresses his cheek. "I love you and I'll see you in nine months."

Josef nods. "Now get going or it's going to be much sooner."

She kisses him quickly and slides out the door and heads up to the apartment to wait for Mick.

Josef puts the car in gear and starts to back up when Mick pulls up. Josef stops and Mick opens the door and slides in. "How is she?"

Josef shrugs. "Fine. You were as good as your word. You kept her out of Coraline's hands."

Mick nods. "Only because, for once, she did exactly as she was supposed to. She ran like hell."

Josef starts the engine of the Escalade. "Well, I might as well get going. Take care of her."

Mick walks into the apartment and Beth is in his arms before he gets the door closed. _Yes, it will be a good nine months……_

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Ok, it's been fun...Love to know what you thought about all of it...there is probably another sequal floating around in my head so let me know if there is any interest in reading another one...**


End file.
